Listrac-Médoc

The fame of this wine-producing commune seems to go back to the 18th century. But it is true, if we believe Le Producteur, Journal des intérêts spéciaux de la propriété vignoble du département de la Gironde of 1838, that the winegrowers of this commune - as well as those of the neighboring commune Moulis - have always encountered some difficulties in making known, if not recognizing, the merits of their productions.

This was also the case when the AOC was established. Indeed, the Listrac appellation d'origine contrôlée, which later became Listrac-Médoc, was only recognized and granted in June 1957. It became, three years after Margaux, the youngest communal AOC in the Médoc. And yet, M. d'Armailhac, in his work on the cultivation of the vine in the Médoc, published in 1855, indicates that the "Listrac plateau" can be compared to the most beautiful exposures of the Médoc. It is true that the Listrac plateau, located between the magnificent Fonréaud ridge to the south and the no less beautiful Fourcas ridge to the north, occupies one of the highest altitudes in the Médoc over a length of about five kilometers, dominating the plain which, to the east, extends as far as the river. Like all the wine-producing communes of the Médoc, Listrac-Médoc is made up of gravelly hilltops that are well suited to the cultivation of vines. In the center of the commune, there are three of them: Fonréaud, the town and Fourcas.

The Fonréaud hillock has a clayey-siliceous soil; the one on which the town is built is composed of a clayey-gravelly soil, while towards Fourcas the soils are rather silico-gravelly. To the east of these ridges, the soil is clayey-limestone or clayey-marl. To the west, the soil becomes sandy, sometimes with a rather fine gravel; it slopes gently towards the forest and the coastal ponds.

The subsoil is also quite varied: in the west, it is mainly of aliotic origin; in the center and east, there are marls and limestone known as Saint-Estèphe; towards the north and northeast, the subsoil is gravelly like the soil. The Cabernets are more likely to occupy the gravelly hilltops and give Listrac-Médoc its power. The Merlots, mainly planted on the limestone plateau, give it fruit, flesh and roundness.

Translator's note:
- The Producer, Journal of the special interests of the vineyard property of the Gironde department