Clos Labarde

In 1841, “le Producteur, Journal des Intérêts Spéciaux de la propriété vignoble du département de la Gironde” cited (page 503) the wines from La Barde among the “first class” wines of Haut-Saint-Laurent (formerly called “Haut-Saint-Émilion”), a reputation confirmed in the 1868 and subsequent editions of Bordeaux et ses Vins®.
However, the vicissitudes of history and fortune meant that Clos Labarde, long held in joint ownership by very many heirs, lost its renown and lustre.
It was acquired in 1978 by M. Jacques Bailly. A lover of “fine workmanship”, he set about renovating the buildings and restoring the vineyard.
Today the magnificent stones and rubble of the old farmhouse — a lintel bears the date 1779 — play with the light, paying a kind of tribute to the forebears and to a glorious past. A simply fitted tasting room sometimes keeps visitors and enthusiasts for long hours.
Located east of Saint-Émilion, in the continuation of the hillside, about one kilometre from the walls of the old town, this vineyard covers an area of 4.60 hectares. Benefiting from excellent natural drainage, Merlot and Cabernets of respectable age draw their sap from a clay-limestone soil over a rocky base.
Cultivation methods are old-fashioned (ploughing, etc.). As M. Bailly seeks a powerful and generous type of wine, the harvests, by hand, are generally late for optimum ripeness. Only healthy grapes, free of leaves and destemmed, are admitted to the well-equipped cellar. Macerations, controlled by temperature regulation, are fairly long in order to obtain a wine of considerable structure suitable for long keeping.
Ageing lasts 18 to 22 months, 10 of them in barrels renewed entirely each year. The air-conditioned bottle cellar makes it possible to keep and store in the best conditions the some 26,000 bottles thus produced.
There, after a few years, the somewhat aggressive tannins of the early days melt away, the aromas of well-ripened fruit develop and give very pretty bottles in which every taster discovers a well-balanced and harmonious wine, finely oaked, with some suave notes of prune, raspberry or other fruits…
Reconnecting with their prestigious past, the wines of Clos Labarde have been noticed on various occasions. Gold or silver medals have been awarded to them in various competitions (Vinexpo International Competition, Bourg-Blaye National Competition, Concours Général Agricole de Paris, Mâcon competition) for all vintages from 1985 to 1993.
In 1987, a major weekly, after tasting the vintages from 1978 to 1986, wrote about it in its Wine column: “a wine that deserves to be classified among the great Saint-Émilions; it is vinified and aged by an owner who ensures very high quality”.
In 1992, the “Chanville” indicated a single discovery in Saint-Émilion: Clos Labarde. Since 1990, to ensure the family continuity of the vineyard, a société civile has been created, of which M. Nicolas Bailly has been in charge since 1995.