St. Julien
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St. Julien, the epitome of fine Bordeaux
Lying about forty kilometres noth-north-west of the city of Bordeaux, on the banks of the Gironde estuary, St. Julien is the smallest of the four famous appellations that harbour almost all of the classified growths on Bordeaux’ left bank. With its 900 hectares of vines (2200 acres), it seems very compact next to its near neighbours Margaux, to the south, and Pauillac, to the north. Even St. Estephe, further north again, covers more ground. But this appellation in the heartland of the Haut-Médoc appears as the most homogenous of the « big four », since 80% of its wines come from classified growths. Most of the land here is structured by deep layers of glacial and fluvial deposits with a high proportion of gravel. This is a very efficient system for draining the soils towards the Gironde estuary that borders St. Julien to the east. Relative proximity to this large mass of water is the principle feature that distinguishes the natural environment of one estate from another. The vineyards of Léoville Las Cases, Langoa Barton, Ducru Beaucaillou and Beychevelle are very close, whereas others, such as Talbot, Gruaud Larose, Lagrange, Léoville Barton or Léoville Poyferré, are slightly further removed. And sometimes, especially inland, the soils get a little richer. But we are talking about details here, since, within the entire appellation, the greatest distance from this thermally regulating influence is a mere four kilometres. As from the early 18th century, land around the villages of Beychevelle and St. Julien de Beychevelle attracted investors, initially the nobility and bourgeoisie from Bordeaux, in a movement that became known as « the planting rush », and which was to radically change the landscape of the Médoc area.
It is often said that the style of St. Julien’s wines forms a kind of compromise between Margaux, supposedly more « feminine », and Pauillac, supposedly more « masculine ». I have serious reserves about such generalisations, as they are usually just convenient ways of avoiding the considerable complexity that is part and parcel of wine. The style of a particular wine is the result of a numerous factors, natural, economic and, especially, human, since individuals and their teams are in charge of the decision-making process in wine, and these individuals change over the years. Nevertheless, the consistently high quality level of St. Julien’s wines is indisputable. I recently tasted eight out of its eleven classified growth in the very young but promising 2005 vintage, and found them all excellent, but with clear stylistic differences. Branaire Ducru, Talbot or Langoa Barton appeared more of the robust and four-square ilk, quite distinct from the style of Lagrange, Gruaud-Larose or Beychevelle, all of which appeared at this stage softer and more elegant. Léoville Poyferré seemed richer, in a more « modern » vein, whereas Léoville Barton, although just as succulent as its neighbour, seemed a little fresher and more restrained. Tasting such a marvellous kaleidoscope of nuances brings one to the conclusion that here lies a kind of synthesis of what makes the wines of Bordeaux’s left bank so fine: they clearly show the qualities of the cabernet sauvignon grape that dominates their blends, whilst retaining that perfect poise that sets them up for the long haul through time.
This question of time lies at the heart of what qualifies wines like the best of St. Julien for the term « great ». I recently had the opportunity to test their remarkable ageing capacity at another tasting. The vintages were different from one château to another, and stretched between 1975, for the youngest wine, to 1916 for the oldest. Today we tend to drink our Bordeaux wines much younger, and, with the « futures » commercial system, we also tend to judge them far too early, indeed before they are even fully formed and finally bottled. As the opportunities to drink what used to be considered as fully mature wines diminish, we gradually lose our taste for older wines. Today it is fashionable to consider that « more of everything » is a sign of quality in a young wine: some critics look for « massive » tannins and « awesome » fruit (or is it the other way round?). Yet when confronted with older vintages, we are sometimes in the realm of the ethereal, with flavours that hover delicately between our conscious palates and our unconscious memories. We lose our regular benchmarks and are obliged to judge more by individual feelings and emotions. In this exercise, historical awareness and individual sensitivities play a considerable role.
History is naturally part and parcel of an appellation like St. Julien, with the paradox of its famous châteaux dating from well before the founding of the appellation system itself. It is said of Beychevelle, which boasts what must be one of the finest buildings (a chartreuse) in the médoc, that it holds its name from the 16th century, at a time when it belonged to a Duc d’Epernon, also an Admiral. In his honour, ships would dip their sails as they passed on the estuary (baisser la voile, meaning « lower the sail », which got contracted to beychevelle via local dialect). A more recent success story is that of Henri Martin, longstanding mayor of St. Julien, who pieced together his estate, Gloria, from vineyard plots that had all belonged to classified growths. And yet Gloria, which didn’t exist in the 19th century, is not classified. The history of Bordeaux is somehow all here, in potted version, in St. Julien.
St. Julien at a glance
Surface area: 910 hectares (2,247 acres, or 6% of the médoc vineyards)
Average production: 6 500 000 bottles per year
Number of estates: 26
Classifications:
11 Crus Classés in 1855 (80% of total production)
6 Crus Bourgeois (15% of production)
9 Crus Artisans and others (5% of production)
2 ème Crus Classés: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Léoville-Las-Cases, Château Léoville-Poyferré, Château Léoville-Barton, Château Gruaud-Larose
3 ème Crus Classés: Château Lagrange, Château Langoa Barton
4 ème Crus Classés: Château Beychevelle, Château Branaire-Ducru, Château Saint-Pierre, Château Talbot
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