Clos Dubreuil
Sitting down to dinner midway through the primeurs one year (quite a few years ago now) I found myself surrounded by the usual hubbub of (mostly) British journalists and (mostly) French winemakers, and on the table before me an equally broad selection of bottles. Some were wholly familiar, one glimpse of the label akin to sinking back into a favourite leather armchair. Château Pichon-Baron made an appearance. And unsurprisingly, in view of the venue, a vintage or two of Château Brown did the rounds. And waiting for us in the wings there was Château Climens too. And there was one other wine rather less familiar, an unusually robust-looking bottle identified by the label as Clos Dubreuil.
There was no denying the impact of the wine. Dark, glossy, rich, certainly concentrated, although not super-saturated in the vein of the rather over-the-top wines that were coming from the cellars of Château Pavie or Château Cos d’Estournel at that time (as noted above, this was a good few years ago, and the wines of both estates have changed much since, and for the better). It was well made, although it was carrying plenty of oak, texture and alcohol; while clearly in the modern style, ripe and slick, it was not over-done. I thought it was an impressive effort, and I voiced my admiration for the wine.
“Thanks”, said the guy sitting next to me. “I made it”.
As it turns out I was seated next to Benoît Trocard, at that time the proprietor of Clos Dubreuil, by my reckoning just 31 years old (or thereabouts). Benoît is the 15th generation of the Trocard family to make wine on the right bank of Bordeaux, and Clos Dubreuil was his pet project, a micro-domaine welcomed into the Trocard fold in 2002. He has since moved on, but more of that in a moment. First, as always, I begin with a little history.
