Château Le Boscq

Château Le Boscq is among the oldest estates of Saint-Estèphe. Its renown goes back to the conquest of the Médoc vineyard: in 1749, Thomas Barton, founder of one of the first trading houses in Bordeaux, became tenant of Château Le Boscq. For 30 years he worked to produce wines whose quality was constantly recognised, sometimes even at the rank of Cru Classé, in the various classifications drawn up from the 18th century by the brokers and négociants of Bordeaux.
At the end of the 19th century, Jean Grazilhon, a faithful servant of the estate, whose forebear had already been steward of the château under Thomas Barton, ran the estate in a remarkable way. He became its owner in 1889 and in 1891 had built, in place of the old manor house, which he judged unworthy of the quality of this fine terroir, the present château, a majestic residence with one façade facing the vines and the other offering a magnificent view over the estuary. For more than 30 years he took very special care to produce wines of high quality, paving the way for the recognition of Château Le Boscq as a Cru Bourgeois in 1932.
The successive crises of the 20th century left this superb estate dormant for long decades, until its takeover by Dourthe in 1995. From then on, the ambition was clear: to exploit the full potential of the terroir and the vineyard to make Château Le Boscq one of the great wines of Saint-Estèphe.
The vineyard occupies a very fine rise of Garonne gravel on a clay subsoil. The top of the gravelly rise promotes optimal ripeness of the latest grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot). On the flanks of the hillsides, the gravel layer thins, letting clays outcrop in places, with a cooler terroir that suits Merlot perfectly, historically the majority variety at Château Le Boscq, which brings all the elegance and roundness to the wine.
As with all Dourthe vineyards, efforts aim at the permanent improvement of viticultural practices in order to obtain the best possible grapes. The vineyard is run according to the environmental principles of sustainable protection, and the green work, meticulously adapted to the climatic conditions and the nature of each plot, brings the grapes to optimal ripeness.
Determined according to the results of regular berry tastings, the staggered harvest is carried out by hand, in small crates, plot by plot or micro-plot by micro-plot of uniform ripeness.
The model vat room, very spacious, is equipped with a particularly selective harvest reception, allowing the most attentive care to be given to the berries. The grapes are sorted by hand on long vibrating tables before and after gentle destemming. The berries are then conveyed delicately by belt and are very lightly crushed at the entrance to the vats. No pump is used, in order to preserve the integrity of the berries. The small-capacity stainless steel vats (64 to 120 hl) allow the vinification of uniform intra-plot lots. The wines are aged in barrels, in separate lots until blending, in the cellars adjoining the vat room.
The first wine, Château Le Boscq, Cru Bourgeois, is a Saint-Estèphe of character that elegantly combines the power of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with the finesse of Merlot, unusual in this appellation. Fine and balanced, it has very good ageing potential. The second wine, Héritage de Le Boscq, benefits from the same care in the vineyard and cellar as the first wine. Supple, fruity and finely tannic, it can be enjoyed from its youth.