Three Whites from Château Loudenne, 2019
Chateau Loudenne is located high up in the Médoc appellation near St-Yzans-de-Médoc, east of Lesparre-Médoc. Situated on two low gravel mounds, it enjoys a very privileged position looking down onto the waters of the Gironde. The château, painted an eye-catching dusky pink, has stood since the 16th century, and the grounds are graced with cellars which date to the 19th century, an extensive park and even a small private harbour.
These days the estate is owned jointly by Moutai, a leading Chinese spirits company, and Camus, a major player in the world of Cognac. The two companies have been working together on a variety of projects over the last decade, and the acquisition of Château Loudenne is one of their latest ventures. On the ground, the estate has been under the direction of Philippe de Poyferré, previously of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, since 2016.
The early chapters of viticulture’s story on this estate are lost to the mists of time, yet one date is certain. In 1880 the then-proprietor planted his first white vines, and today the estate stakes a claim as having the longest-established white vineyard on the Médoc peninsula. The vines are planted at the foot of the gravel mounds, where the soils are typically clay and gravel, or even clay and limestone, rather than the purer gravel beds found atop the hills. There are 9 hectares of vines altogether, these being 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon, their average age 29 years. The fruit is picked by hand into small crates, sorted over a traditional table, pressed and the juice is vinified and aged partly in oak barrels, on the lees, and partly in vat. The general rule is no malolactic fermentation.
