St. Julien Bordeaux Wine Guide, Producer, Chateaux Listings, Character

St. Julien  Bordeaux Wine Guide with a history of the St. Julien appellation, a look at the character and style of the wines, producer and chateaux listings with links to pages on every important property in the St. Julien, Bordeaux  wine region with wine tasting notes, histories of the properties, images, technical information and Bordeaux wine buying tips from all the best wines and chateau in the Saint Julien 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. Julien wines and their producers. You can read wine tasting notes , detailed  profiles and histories of the top St. Julien estates, details on the wines, their character and style, wine making, soils and other important information, as well as view images of the following top Bordeaux value wine producers from the St. Julien appellation:

Map of Bordeaux St-Julien Chateau

St. Julien produces a myriad of different styles of Bordeaux wine in the Left Bank of Bordeaux.  They can be powerful, tannic and even masculine like Chateau Leoville Las Cases or the more traditionally made Leoville Barton. Some of the wines from St. Julien can be easily confused with Bordeaux wine from Pauillac, which is easy to understand as Pauillac and St. Julien are only a vine away on the northern side of St. Julien. Other Bordeaux wine from St. Julien are on the elegant, refined side of the style of range like Branaire Ducru. Other St. Julien estates are able to majestically pair concentration with elegance and purity like the wines found at Ducru Beaucaillou. Some chateaux remain traditional in their approach, while others lean to a more modern approach, like St. Pierre. There are early drinking wines like Gloria and wines that demand decades in the cellar.

St.Julien is the smallest of the major Bordeaux appellation in the Medoc with 900 hectares under vine. But great things come in small packages. There is something for every Bordeaux wine lover in the St. Julien appellation. While there are no First Growths to be found here, St. Julien is rich the category of Super Seconds.  St. Julien boasts 5 Second Growths, 2 Third Growths and 4 Fourth Growth chateaux. St. Julien has never been more exiting. Numerous estates are battling it out, trying to produce the best wine possible. The consumer is the clear winner as Leoville Poyferre strives to best Leoville Las Cases and Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou tries to be better than all of them! Chateau Branaire Ducru is making wine well above its classification as well.

In blind tastings, it’s easy to confuse St. Julien with Pauillac. Some estates share similar terroir. In fact, the vineyards of Chateau Leoville Las Cases abut the vineyards of Chateau Latour.  All this leads to the conclusion that the commune offers a diversity of styles and levels of quality in Bordeaux wine.  The top Bordeaux wines of the St. Julien region are meant to age, in order to display their full level of complexities.

St. Julien first became famous for its Bordeaux wine back in the 17th century. At the time St. Julien was developing as a Bordeaux wine producing appellation in the Left Bank, the entire area of the Medoc was being discovered and populated by wealthy aristocrats quickly began erecting massive showpiece chateau. Many of the original St. Julien estates are still standing today.

Geographically, St. Julien is situated in the middle of two important appellations in the Medoc.  Margaux is to the south and Pauillac borders the region in the north. The port of Beychevelle is right there, which helped with the ease of shipping in the formative years. , In the 1855 classification, a total of 5 chateau earned coveted status as a Second Growth: Ducru Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose, Leoville Barton, Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Poyferre .

The terroir of St. Julien is as varied as the style of wines the region produces. The surface offers divergent terroir with different soils consisting of gravel, rock, sand and clay.  The gravel based Bordeaux vineyards of St. Julien are perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. While all five of the major Bordeaux grape varietals grow in St. Julien, like most of the Medoc, Cabernet Sauvignon is king, along with Merlot in an important supporting role.  Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc can also be found.

What does it take to be a St. Julien wine? According to the decree of November 14, 1936, the St. Julien AOC wines must meet precise production conditions: grape varieties, minimum sugar content, alcoholic strength (10.5° acquired alcohol) and limited yields. Interestingly, a few producers on the St. Julien appellation produce a small amount of white wine.  Chateau Lagrange is one of the few St. Julien properties to produce a white wine. The wine is blended from approximately 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle  Chateau Talbot also makes a limited amount of white Bordeaux wine.