Château Clerc Milon

Included in the 18th century within the vast lands of the seigneury of Lafite, which were confiscated and sold as “national property” during the Revolution, Château Clerc Milon received its present name in 1850. It had belonged since 1789 to the Clerc family, who linked their name to that of the Pauillac hamlet where the property stood. The rank of Fifth Growth awarded to it in the famous 1855 Classification attests to its presence, even then, among the elite of the Châteaux of the Médoc. The vineyard then extended over some thirty hectares. After a first division in 1877, the greater part of the estate became the property of a certain Mondon, and its wine was sold under the name Clerc Milon-Mondon. At the end of the 19th century, the cru still enjoyed a very good reputation. But, through sales and successions, the original estate continued to shrink and its upkeep left more and more to be desired.
It was bought in 1960 by Jacques Vialard, a notary in Pauillac, and by then comprised only about fifteen hectares.
In 1970, convinced of the cru’s qualitative potential despite its condition and its modest reputation, Baron Philippe de Rothschild acquired Château Clerc Milon. More than half of the estate’s original surface area had been split up into hundreds of plots… with almost as many title deeds! Baron Philippe, who had presided since 1922 over the destinies of Château Mouton Rothschild and since 1933 over Château d’Armailhac, nonetheless felt that Clerc Milon deserved “a good place” alongside the family’s two other crus. He therefore undertook a meticulous renovation of the vineyard, thanks to the remarkable expertise of the Mouton technical teams, and the reconstitution of the estate, gradually buying back from their countless owners the plots that had been scattered over the years.
However, the cru lacked an image and an identity of its own. It was therefore decided that Mouton would, once again, lend its support to the newcomer. The Clerc Milon label was thus successively illustrated by two pieces of German goldsmith’s work of the 17th and 18th centuries belonging to the Museum of Wine in Art at Mouton Rothschild: first, until 1983, a Jungfraubecher, a silver-gilt wedding cup, then a pair of dancers in precious stones.
In 1988, when Baron Philippe died, the reassembly of the estate was well under way, and among wine lovers the wine had regained its former standing. But the technical facilities on site were limited to a rudimentary vat room, the cellars were exiled in the town of Pauillac and the “château” itself was no more than a small village house.
Having taken over from her father, Baroness Philippine was duty-bound to include Clerc Milon in her ambitious plans for modernising and developing the family company Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA, vice-chaired by her elder son Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, and which is in charge of managing the Châteaux.
Thus, in two stages, a new Clerc Milon rose from the ground, with a fully gravity-fed vat room commissioned in 2007, then in 2011 a complex of nearly 3600 square metres comprising a semi-underground barrel cellar, a vault, and reception and tasting rooms. The two project leaders, the scenographer Richard Peduzzi and the architect Bernard Mazières, designed a rectangular, temple-shaped building encircled by a vast terrace opening onto the vines. The materials used, stone, glass and wood, evoke the world of wine. Finally, the energy required is supplied by 300 square metres of photovoltaic cells, and the same ecological concern applies in the barrel cellar.
With its tall silhouette, lofty pediment and rare-wood cladding, Clerc Milon is not only visible on wine lists: it is now an integral part of the Pauillac landscape !