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    9° C Broken clouds
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    02:23 AM
  • Wine average?

    90 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    761
  • Region Ranking?

    423
  • Popularity ranking?

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History

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.

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Vineyards

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.

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Winemaking

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…

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Inside information

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.’’

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Highlights

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Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users.    or    to see wine moments from your world.

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Haut Carles . In a tasting of  745 wines 

This years "en primeur" tasting seemed like a journey in time. Bordeaux is back to a more moderate alcohol level and the style is lighter and more elegant. One could say the wines are reminiscent of the 80s, however made with more experience and the modern techniques today. It is not a powerful vintage. The wines are elegant, however the well made ones have an excellent persistence, depth and length. They offer a convincing potential for a long ageing and promote elegance in Bordeaux again. It is a true vintage of terroir although there is a lot of talk about a vintners vintage. However, terroir was the decisive factor in 2021.


Professor Axel Marchal has presented the 10 key points of this vintage on the occasion of the Union des Grands Crus press tasting:


"1. The start of the growing season was marked by severe frost on the 7th and 8th of April.


2. Wet and gloomy weather in May slowed down the vine growth although a providential window of fine weather helped flowering unfold in ideal conditions in early June.


3. Thunderstorms in June slowed down the onset of water stress.


4: Cool, dull weather in July increased the threat of vine diseases.


5. Véraison (colour change) was observed in mid-August, while vine growth had not stopped yet.


6. Thanks to a cool summer, the dry white wines are brilliant, lively and aromatic.


7. The wonderful Indian Summer allowed the red grape varieties to ripen in ideal conditions and preserved aromas.


8. The Merlots are fresh and aromatic while the Cabernets from the finest terroirs are well-structured with good balance.


9. The development of Botrytis cinerea in Sauternes was delayed by the cool summer and eventually triggered by rainfall in mid-September.


10. Despite low yields, the botrytised sweet white wines are of excellent quality."


It will be exciting to see the evolution of this vintage which produced in many cases yields on a very low scale. Arguably it will be a vintage praised for it finesse in the future. A vintage rated on finesse and persistence rather than on sheer power and opulence.

1y 7m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Haut Carles . In a tasting of  41 wines 

 


 


 Tasting "en primeur" is a challenge every year. The wines tasted are showing a tendency only and it is still the beginning of a longer process of evolution and maturation in the barrels. There might be some changes during the next year and a half until the wines will be bottled, but already today the tendency is quite clear.


For most of the red wines it will be an outstanding vintage, a vintage for Cabernet, old vines, limestone and clay soil. It was a challenging year for the vintners. An incredibly wet spring was worrying the winegrowers and at the beginning of June, the spirits were down. However warm and dry weather between June 3 and June 11 creating an close to ideal situation for the flowering and good weather conditions starting in mid June changed the nature of the vintage. The fine weather continued into July and August. The month of August was featuring hot weather and a remarkable amount of sunshine but the absence of rain let to water stress. Heavy rain in mid September set an end to water stress and when the sun returned on September 20 the vintage was saved as there was excellent weather till to the end of the harvest. The effects were various. the white wines are on a good quality level and display fruit and flavour but the acidity is lower than in previous vintages and the white wines show an opulent and rather soft style. The noble sweet wines are extremely pure and are more on the rich and powerful side than on the freshness. For the red wines originating from the right terroirs and old vines, the vintage an be called outstanding. Water stress was managed well on limestone and clay terroirs, Cabernet varieties did extremely well and old vines found water even during the stressful dry periods of summer. In some few red wines the tannins are slightly harsh, almost bitter, a result of water stress and/or intense extraction. In general the red wines are on an excellent level with an advantage for the left bank, mainly the Médoc area, and the classic great terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol. 

6y 6m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Haut Carles . In a tasting of  54 wines 

The red wines originating from the right terroirs and old vines, the Bordeaux vintage 2016 an be called outstanding. Water stress was managed well on limestone and clay terroirs, Cabernet varieties did extremely well and old vines found water even during the stressful dry periods of summer. In some few red wines the tannins are slightly harsh, almost bitter, a result of water stress and/or intense extraction. In general the red wines are on an excellent level with an advantage for the left bank, mainly the Médoc area, and the classic great terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol 

6y 7m ago

 Izak Litwar / BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Denmark)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Haut Carles . In a tasting of  161 wines 

Bordeaux 2016 vintage!

6y 7m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Haut Carles . In a tasting of  502 wines 

“2015 will be one of the excellent vintages however hardly to compare to 2009 and 2010 or 2005. In 2015 the region played a major role, terroir was the key to success. For red wines, the limestone plateau in Saint-Emilion performed extremely well as there was water available during the hot summer days and drainage proved to be ideal during rainy August. Therefore the best wines of Saint-Emilion come from limestone soils. The sandy parts of the appellation produced a quite heterogeneous result. In Pomerol it looked the same with very successful wines from the central plateau and more heterogeneous qualities from the areas around. In Fronsac it was not only the terroir which proved important, the vintners decision had a major impact. Pessac-Léognan did extremely well in this vintage with a homogenous quality. The Médoc was divided. The southern part, mainly Margaux and the southern part of Saint-Julien have seen less rain and produced more powerful wines. The northern part of the Médoc, especially Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe have produced a very fine and elegant style with excellent persistence. On the good terroirs, the seeds were ripe which results in very ripe tannins with a silky or velvety expression. In addition the cooler conditions of autumn provoked a very pure and fresh fruit. For the dry white wines the quality depends very much on the origin again. Due to the hot and dry growing season, a lot of white wines show very mild, almost soft acidity but also some phenolic hints in the aftertaste. A few dry white wines are standing out, having preserved freshness and acidity. The sweet wines are remarkably good, very rich in character and the best of them have a crisp acidity balancing the opulent sugar. The tasting conditions were rather good, however the weather was quite mixed affecting the presentation of the wines. The wines were tasted blind where possible and open. The final decision on the rating is based on both tasting types.”

7y 7m ago

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