St. Estephe Bordeaux Wine Guide Producer Chateaux Listings Character

St. Estephe Bordeaux Wine Guide, Producer, Chateaux Listings

St. Estephe Bordeaux Wine Guide with information on the history, character and style of the best wines in St. Estephe Bordeaux wine appellation, with links to the top Bordeaux wine producers, wine tasting notes and Chateau Profiles for the St. Estephe region plus images, ratings, reviews, histories, technical information and Bordeaux wine buying tips for the wines in the Saint Estephe appellation.

If you want to read about other Bordeaux wine producers in different Bordeaux appellations: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles If you are interested in learning more about Bordeaux wine, we offer numerous articles on everything about Bordeaux wine, from a history of the Bordeaux region and the famous 1855 Classification, the grapes used to produce Bordeaux wine and even vintage summaries, covering Bordeaux wine from 1900 to today: All About Bordeaux Wine Guide

The links located to the left of the page lead to the best St. Estephe wines and their producers. You can read St. Estephe wine tasting notes , detailed  profiles and histories of the estates, details on the wines, wine making, soils and other important information, as well as view images of the following top Bordeaux value wine producers:

Map of Bordeaux St-Estèphe Chateau

St. Estephe

The Bordeaux wines of St. Estephe are powerful, rich, full bodied, tannic, structured Bordeaux wines meant to age. The best of these wines from the northernmost appellation of the Medoc offer a purity and intensity that is seldom found in other Bordeaux wines.  However, the region also produces a myriad of wines that are rustic and austere in style.  Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the kings here. Even though some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are planted in the region, they only play a minor role. While St. Estephe is close to the same size as Pauillac, and is located right next door to Pauillac, St. Estephe has very few 1855 Classified Growths. What savvy consumers can find in St. Estephe are numerous Cru Bourgeois wines that are easily at the level of many 5th growths, yet they sell for a pittance, when compared to numerous more expensive wines from the Left Bank.

St. Estephe, with 1,377 hectares under vine is the largest of the major, Bordeaux appellations in the Medoc.
St. Estephe is located in the most northern part of the Left Bank.  The St. Estephe appellation borders the northern end of Pauillac, next to Chateau Lafite Rothschild, in the middle of Bordeaux and the Pointe-de-Grave.  Even casual observers of the soils can see the rich mixture of rocks, clay, limestone and gravel that rests on the surface and of course below, deep in the terroir.  Beneath the surface lies a complex blend of different soils, sub soils and terroir’s. St. Estephe, which is not far from the river offers a myriad micro climates as well.

St. Estephe is different than the other Bordeaux appellations located in the Medoc. Most of the Medoc is filled with gravel, rocks, limestone and sand with a minor amount of clay. In St. Estephe, there are large deposits of clay in the soil. Due to the large deposits of clay, the wines of St. Estephe often produce great wine in hot, dry years. The finest terroir in the appellation is situated on the hill of Cos, where Chateau Cos d’Estournel is located. From the vineyards of Cos d’Estournel, you have perfect views of their neighbor, Lafite Rothschild.

These divergent terroir’s appear all over the St. Estephe appellation.   The upper terrace of St. Estephe is based on sand and gravel. The lower terrace has more  gravel soils. If you move east, you encounter soils featuring marine limestone as a major component of the terroir. The lesser St. Estephe areas feature terroir with lighter, sandy soil, along with a blend of sandstone and quartz.  Lastly, travel south and look below the surface and you will uncover a concentration of sub soils filled with loam. The rich diversity of terroir’s and soils explain the diverse styles of Bordeaux wines that come from St. Estephe.

Because St. Estephe is the appellation furthest north, it’s a little cooler and is often the last area in the Medoc to harvest. The proximity to water aids the vines in the dry vintages, while the clay helps the soil retain moisture.

Only five wines from St. Estephe were included in the original 1855 classification. That is less than every other commune in the Left Bank. St. Estephe not only borders Pauillac, but some of the vineyards abut Chateau Lafite Rothschild from Pauillac. In fact, at one time, some of the vineyard land belonging to Chateau Lafite Rothschild were located in St. Estephe. Lafite Rothschild was forced to lobby and persuade the ruling body to change the St. Estephe boundaries, so those vines could be included in the wine of Chateau Lafite Rothschild!

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  In the 1855 Classification, the top two chateaux of St. Estephe, are the same top two wines of the appellation today, Cos d’Estournel and Montrose. Interestingly, some people claim Chateau Montrose is a better expression of St. Estephe, while Cos d’Estournel is the more modern styled wine. According to Bruno Prats, the previous owner of Chateau Cos d’Estournel, those same comments have been made for over 50 years.