Château Haut-Sarpe

The origin of the name “Haut Sarpe” is very ancient. It dates from the time when the Romans chose to clear (or “sarper”) the woods and coppices of the high plateau of Saint-Emilion in order to create a perfectly exposed vineyard, a little closer to the sun.
“One of the oldest and longest-reputed of Saint-Émilion”, writes Professor Henri Enjalbert, and he continues: “in 1750, Pierre Beylot, a Libourne négociant, already spoke of the Sarpe growth. In 1807, his son Mathieu bought Sarpe wines at a very high price, which left for Brussels by carriage.”
At the Paris universal exhibition in 1867, the two owners of Sarpe were entered on the list of the thirty-six Saint-Émilion growths that won the gold medal.
In the mid-18th century, this famous growth belonged to Count Jacques-Amédée de Carles, lieutenant general of the armies of King Louis XVI. It then passed into the hands of the Count d’Allard, mayor of St-Émilion, then the barons du Foussat de Bogeron.
On 27 August 1930, M. Joseph Janoueix became its owner.
Located on the highest point of the hillside, 500 metres east of the medieval city of Saint-Émilion, the Haut Sarpe wine estate lies on the boundary of the two communes of Saint-Émilion and Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes. It goes back to the time when the Romans “essarpaient” (cleared brush, in Old French) the top of the best-exposed plateau to plant vines closest to the sun. The château, combining sobriety with elegance, stands on the very edge of the plateau. It was built to the plans of the architect Léo Drouyn, who took his inspiration from the Petit Trianon at Versailles.
Its privileged soil, clay-limestone and Asteries limestone of Stampian age (Oligocene), where Merlot and Cabernet Franc grow, ranks it as one of the best Grands Crus Classés of Haut-Saint-Émilion. Selected by hand, the harvest produces a wine of great class, generous, well-bred and long-lived. The wine is aged in oak casks, 60% of which are renewed every year.
Haut-Sarpe features at all the great tables and has notably been served at the Élysée, the first house of France, for a very long time.
In 2012, the Château Haut-Sarpe estate received the “Best of d’Or” for wine tourism, for “art and culture” , awarded by the great wine capitals.
Châteaux Le Castelot, Franc-Cantenac and La Confession, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru; Château La Rose Saint Georges and Cap St-Georges, Saint-Georges Saint-Émilion; Châteaux La Croix, La Croix Toulifaut and La Croix Saint Georges and Clos des Litanies, Pomerol; Châteaux Saint Genès and La Gasparde, Côtes-de-Castillon; Châteaux Croix-Mouton and Le Conseiller, Bordeaux Supérieur, are also part of the vineyards of the Joseph Janoueix family.