Chateau La Clotte-Cazalis

Village:
Barsac
Appellation:
5ha
Sauternes
Grower:
Marie-Pierre Lacoste
Website:
https://www.instagram.com/lacosteduchesne/
Downloadable PDF

Château La Clotte-Cazalis has belonged to the Lacoste family since 1779. For forty years prior to 2001 they leased their vineyard to another family who was responsible for farming it and had the rights to the harvest. In 2001 Marie-Pierre Lacoste and her mother, Bernadette, decided to take on the responsibility themselves and started producing a wine from their land. Their vineyard of 5 hectares is located in the commune of Barsac. It is planted with 95% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Blanc and the vines are all more than 50 years old.

Sauternes

Harvesting is done from mid-September through mid-November. The collection of grapes is done entirely by hand and teams of harvesters go through the vineyard seven or eight times during the fall and pick only the bunches or even individual grapes that have been affected by botrytis. The yields are between 10 and 20 hectoliters per hectare. There is no chaptalisation and the grapes ferment with their indigenous yeast only. Fermentation is carried out partly in stainless steel tanks and partly in barrel. The wine is aged in barrels for one year. Château La Clotte-Cazalis was sited in France’s leading wine journal La Revue du Vin de France as being « one of the 100 Bordeaux Chateaux that will amaze you », and wrote that “ it is remarkable balance and freshness of fruit that bring merit to this wine of rare intensity”. Figaro magazine gave the 2002 vintage its highest award for Sauterne and described it as amazingly pure and composed of fruit that has exceptional finesse.

News

In Jancis Robinson's 3rd and final report on a comprehensive blind tasting of "2009 Bordeaux at 10 years old" La Clotte-Cazalis ranks among the top 12 sweet white bordeaux in a vintage in which noble rot came early and picking during the first week of harvest was essential. Those that didn't manage to bring in most of their grapes suffered, but the "best wines are superb".

Published this March:

Ch La Clotte-Cazalis 2009 Sauternes

Tasted blind. Dark coppery colour. Good energy and not too sweet. Burly finish but there is real drive here.

Drink 2016-2035 17

Marie-Pierre and Taropa, her workhorse of Belgian Draft and Auxois breed

...... to raise the funds she needs for tools and material she needs to adapt to farming by animal traction, and to build bird houses, establish beehives and plant fruit trees. She has has had some great initial success, see the birdhouses she has put up in good time for Spring 2018. Click on any of the photos below to link to her fund page with more photos and info.....

Des vignes, des arbres et un cheval de trait au cœur du Sauternais !

Cher(e)s ami(e)s,

Déjà près de 2400€ récoltés en seulement 10 jours, un immense merci pour votre mobilisation !!

Grâce aux 31 premiers contributeurs, j'ai pu commander les 30 nichoirs afin de les installer au plus vite sur la parcelle, pour accueillir les oiseaux dès le printemps ! Les 2 ruches aussi ont pu être financées. Avec ces aménagements, nous allons pouvoir maximiser la biodiversité !

Mais il me manque encore 3 700 € pour acheter le semoir pour Taropa. Il m'est indispensable pour mettre en place des couverts végétaux entre les rangs, et éviter le travail des sols. Je pourrai enfin me passer de toute action mécanique !

Pour ceux qui souhaitent compléter leur cave avant l’arrivée des beaux jours, vous pouvez le faire par le biais de ma campagne, et avoir accès à une très belle sélection de millésimes de la propriété qui me permettra de financer l’ensemble du projet.

Je n'y arriverai pas sans vous ! Je compte sur votre participation, pour relayer, partager et parler de ce projet autour de vous.

Un grand merci pour votre soutien,

Marie Pierre Lacoste
Château La Clotte-Cazalis
Lieu dit La Clotte
33 720 Barsac

Region: Bordeaux

The city of Bordeaux and its surrounding viticultural area are located in southwest France, in the Gironde. The area is formed around two great rivers; the Garonne which flows from the Pyrénées and the Dordogne which flows from the Massif Central. The rivers meet just north of the city of Bordeaux and flow into the Gironde estuary which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The regulating influence of the ocean and rivers, along with the temperate climate of mild winters and warm falls, have an important and beneficial effect on the vineyards...

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As the city of Bordeaux evolved into an important port and center of trade in the eighteenth century, its political importance grew, as did the reputation of its wines. The Bordeaux merchants, who had for centuries dealt with wines from “up river” were encouraged at this time to leave behind the wines from the other southwest appellations in favor of the local wines that were given special “fast-track” privileges. Today, a few centuries later, the Bordeaux vineyards and their reputation have developed significantly. Presently, there are 53 different Bordeaux appellations comprising approximately 275,000 acres of appellation controlée vineyards. This scale of activity insures that one can never know Bordeaux, but rather, continue to discover it.

We have found Bordeaux to be an area that far exceeds its conventional association with classification systems and the relatively few “grand chateaux”. As in other regions of France, our portfolio focuses on small family estates located throughout the many Bordeaux appellations. Beyond the circles of merchants, negociants and journalists that often define Bordeaux; we have found independent vignerons working on a small scale whose deep commitment and sensitivity to their land and work results in the production of beautifully rich and diverse wines. The Bordeaux winemaker now works with centuries old viticultural traditions which are being interpreted through a lens of modern technology and a global exchange of ideas.