Clos La Madeleine: Tasting & Drinking
The vines of Clos La Madeleine enjoyed an enviable position on the very edge of the St Emilion plateau, and they have enviable and illustrious neighbours. It was always clear that this is a vineyard with great potential. While I have enjoyed wines from vintages which preceded the acquisition by the Moueix family, it did seem likely that these soils and vines had more to give; its neighbours, after all, included Château Bélair-Monange and Château Ausone, for many years the two highest ranked properties (the former as Château Belair) in the entire St Emilion wine region.
The Moueix family were surely the best equipped to take on this challenge. They had time on their side, they had the track record, and they had the financial clout to develop both vineyard and cellar as they see fit. With this in mind I was hoping that the Moueix acquisition would secure the estate’s future, but it was not to be. In fact the opposite was true, as with the arrival of the new owners the property’s fate was sealed. I am sad to see Clos La Madeleine disappear, as I enjoyed vintages I tasted in the run up to the end, as evinced by my positively worded tasting notes below, but equally I am heartened by anything that reinforces the potential within Château Bélair-Monange.
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