2020 Médoc AOC Cru Bourgeois Supérieur

Château Saint-Hilaire

Château Saint-Hilaire crafts gustatory wine that ages with grace, a succinct and classical expression of the Médoc. This young (by Bordeaux standards!) Château (and dairy ranch!) beside the ocean began in 1982 and bootstrapped itself to Cru Bourgeois status by 2003. It then earned promotion to Cru Bourgeois Supérieur status by 2020! With Adrien Uijttewaal's daughter Elise now at the helm, they drive onward.

Their oldest vines were planted by Adrien in 1982 in Jau Dignac Loirac, the commune at the very tail end of the left bank's famous gravels. This deep onto the peninsula you will find the greatest exposure to the weather of the sea—a growing boon in our changing climate. He planted as well on clay and limestone soils in Queyrac, further in, where Merlot flourishes, and on sandy-clay soils in Gaillan, all giving a diversity of expressions. In 2012, the vineyard was extended on a deep gravelly soil right up against the Gironde estuary in Valeyrac, a factor in the improvement in their wines and Cru Bourgeois Supérieur promotion. Thus, their wine now includes fruit from estate vineyards in four different communes of the Médoc AOC, staked out like a diamond in the furthest reach of the Médoc peninsula, stitching a rich tapestry of quintessential Médoc expression: fleet-footed wines with lighter body, fresher fruit, and great purity of flavour, structured perfectly for a hundred stripes of French cuisine.

For young wine lovers, we see this estate as the perfect opportunity to begin building a cellar if you have not already. Wines do not have to be expensive to age well, and Château Saint-Hilaire is proof positive. To that end, we’ve brought both the 2014 and 2020 vintage and priced them the same in order to demonstrate the flavour of patience.

The vineyards are Terra Vitis and HVE certified (and the beautiful cows, who also provide the vineyards with any fertilization they may need, are certified under the “La Signature des Eleveurs Girondins” program). The wines are pressed in both traditional vertical presses and pneumatic presses depending on the variety and condition. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel before being racked to French oak barriques. They work with seven different coopers for a diversity of origin of oak flavours. The oak is renewed every four to five years for an average of 20-25% new oak in the final blend. It ages 12 months therein before being blended and bottled. They produce 200,000 to 250,000 bottles per year, depending on vintage conditions. Their style is all about elegance and balance. They have a quiet, thoughtful quality to them that I just love.

Since their inaugural vintage they had worked with guidance from the renowned oenologist, the late Jacques Boissenot. Today, they continue to work with his son, Eric Boissenot—the advisor to Lafite, Mouton, Latour, Margaux, to name a few—as they’ve always shared their vision of restrained terroir-driven wine making that favours tradition over trends.