Château Haut Carles

The Château’s first stones were laid during the course of the Hundred Years’ War, but the chateau has been in existence, in its current fortified form, since the start of the 15th century. It was raised by the heralded De Carle family, members of which were highly prominent in Bordeaux between the 15th and 17th centuries. These included, amongst numerous others Canon Vital Carles, who founded the Hospital of Bordeaux, Jean de Carles who presided around 1520 over the Parliament of Bordeaux during the reign of the illustrious King François 1st, and François de Carles, Mayor of Bordeaux in 1561.

It is from this period that date the two round East and West towers, a few years younger than the massive South square tower, the former machicolations of which now provide the foundation to the wall-walk. The splendid sculptured main door is also a remnant of the Renaissance.
 

From the very start, the Château and the Carles Family were celebrated by renowned poets, such as Ronsard
« Carles de qui l’esprit recherche l’univers » [Carle, whose mind seeks out the universe]
« Pour gage d’amitié , je te donne ces vers » [In token of my friendship, I give you this verse]
« Afin que ton Bordeaux et ta large Garonne » [So that your Bordeaux and wide Garonne]
« Flottant contre ses bords, ta louange résonne » [Lapping against its banks, with praise overrun]
« Et ton nom par la France autant puisse voler...» [And set your name in equal flight over France]

or Pontus de Tyard
« Voyez Carle » [Behold Carle]
« Qui dort en l’heureux séjour du mont au double coupeau… » [He who sleeps content in the double fold of the mountain]
 

In the 17th century, Château de Carles became a beacon for thinkers and literary figures, as La Boëtie, who wedded Marguerite de Carles, and friend Montaigne wove family ties there, beyond the warm friendship that bound them.
The fair and illustrious Marquise de Boufflers, whose friends included Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Beaumarchais and Diderot, would become the last “Seigneur de Carles” in the late 18th century. In those days, the château sprawled far more widely than it does today, with a seigniorial chapel, ice house and many commons. It was sold as property of the nation during the Revolution, following which many of its buildings were demolished, leaving only the current volumes standing. Such a wealth of cultural heritage could not go unprotected and Château de Carles was registered on the Supplementary Register of Historical Monuments.

At the turn of the 19th century, Guillaume Chastenet de Castaing, Member of Parliament and Senator of Gironde for 30 years or so, bought the estate. An aficionado of Fronsac wines, he acquired the property more for its vineyards than for the château, which had fallen into abandon. He would restore the interior, refurbish the terrace and plant the cypress trees that now adorn the land and so clearly mirror the landscapes of Tuscany…

Between the two World Wars, his son Jacques Chastenet de Castaing, a historian and member of the Académie Française, would speed up the property’s restoration, taking pleasure in inhabiting it and hosting many a neighbour, friend and brother-in-arms there, including fellow “Immortals” of the Académie Française such as François Mauriac and Maurice Druon.
He would go on to leave Carles to his own eldest son, Antoine Chastenet de Castaing, who from as early as 1983, handed the reins to daughter Constance and her husband Stéphane Droulers.

Passionate and determined, Constance and Stéphane Droulers have brought back to life the property’s majesty and lustre of yesteryear and now produce there one of the finest Bordeaux wines, looking ahead to the day when they will be able to pass it on, in turn, to their daughters Eléonore and Oriane.

The domain of Château de Carles can be found just outside the village of Saillans, on the third knoll of Fronsac, high above the vineyard, Vallée de l’Isle and Libourne. From the Château’s terrace, the view juts beyond Pomerol and extends all the way to the bell tower of the Abbatiale de Saint-Emilion and the knoll on which Château Troplong-Mondot is perched.
 

The domain’s vineyards span some 20 hectares, around the château, in the village of Saillans and within the appellation d’origine contrôlée Fronsac. The vineyards are primarily south- and east-facing, on the clay-limestone and clay-silicium slopes that end in Vallée de l’Isle and protect the vineyards from the rigours of extreme heat.
 

The dominant grape variety here is Merlot (90%), with Cabernet Franc (5%) and Malbec (5%) also represented. The vineyards’ average age is 30 to 35 years.
In keeping with the best practices amongst Médoc Grands Crus Classés, the new plantations are made at a density of 10,000 plants/ha, compared to 5 to 6.000 in the Libournais.

The decision to harvest is made and carried out, lot by lot, when the grapes have reached optimal maturity, most often in October. Fifty people then troop down on sprightly yet careful feet, entering the lots to manually harvest the grapes, placing them in small cases so as to maintain their freshness and quality.

With the most exacting eye, the grapes are sorted before being allowed into the vats, so as to preclude impurities and diseased or unripe grains. Then beings the time of vinification…

Fully rebuilt in 2003, the cellar was designed in accordance with 2 central principles:
• Striving for the highest standard in hygiene, thus implying the absence of any and all identified or suspected pollutants capable of affecting the wine’s quality and the purity of its fruit
• Relying only on pure gravity, so as to bypass the use of pumps which can be too brutal to the wine, which is a living product. The principle of gravity is put in action from the time the grapes leave the sorting table and continues to be applied throughout the vinification and maturing cycle, up to the time of bottling, 18 to 24 months later.

The grapes are poured into a set of 10 stainless steel fully thermo-regulated vats, where they undergo pre-fermentation maceration at low-temperature for six to 10 days prior to the alcohol fermentation process and the post-fermentation maceration. The wine is then poured into oak barrels, in which they will remain for 18 to 24 months, in a gently air-conditioned maturation cellar. A large percentage of Haut-Carles is also vinified directly in 500-liter oak barrels, this type of “integral” vinification adding just that much more fullness, roundness and silkiness to the tannins…

THE PHILOSOPHY SHARED BY CONSTANCE AND STEPHANE DROULERS

’’Our aspiration is to dedicate every resource needed to restore Domaine de Carles and its wines to the fame and high reputation that were theirs in the 19th century, when the wines of Fronsac – first and foremost Carles – outshone those of Pomerol and were on equal footing with the finest of Saint-Emilion, and to establish this firmly for the future.

We wish also to pass this same passion on to our two daughters, Eléonore and Oriane, along with our pursuit of excellence, so that they, in turn, may pass it on to future generations.’’