Chateau Clerc Milon

Chateau Clerc Milon is part of the Rothschild properties in Pauillac, which also include the famous Mouton-Rothschild. It was ranked a fifth growth in the 1855 classification but many regarded it as an over-achiever nowadays.

The history started in the small village of Milon in the north-western corner of Pauillac. In the 19^th century it belonged to Jean-Baptiste Clerc, who was still in charge during the 1855 classification. Jean-Baptiste later sold part of the vineyards to Lamena, who in turn sold to a colleague called Jacques Mondon.

When Jean-Baptiste died, his remaining vineyards were inherited by two ladies, Germain and Clerc, his sister and widow respectively. Jacques then mounted a legal challenge for the right to use the name Clerc-Milon, which he succeeded and allowing him to name his part of the original vineyard Clerc-Milon, and grew into the current estate.

The estate went through a succession of owners and fell into disrepair. By 1960 it was in the hands of a local lawyer Jean-Jacques Vialard, but the vineyards had already reduced to only 15 hectares. His inheritors soon decided to sell to Baron Philippe de Rothschild, at a bargain price of one million francs.

After Baron Philippe, there was extensive investment and radical change, with the winemaking facilities renovated in 1970s, installation of stainless steel vats and increase in the proportion of new oak in the cellar. Quality improved and with no chateau to grace the label, Baron Philippe decided to adopt the image of a Jungfraubecher, a silver-gilt marriage cup.

Only in 1982 was the label replaced by the pair of dancing clowns fashioned from precious stones, another piece of art from a German goldsmith. The piece of art is now in the private museum of the family. There is also a new investment recently, a modern winery constructed near Mouton, which was unveiled in the 2011 Vinexpo.

The new facility allows the wines to be made closer to the vines, with new equipment in a more spacious building, and modern technology such as optical sorting Also, it is now under a dedicated technical team instead of sharing with that from Mouton.

There are over 100 separate vineyard plots, scattered around Milon and the new cellars. The soils are a mixture of sandy gravel with a deeper seam of clay-limestone. In 2011 there was 40 hectares in full production, with another 5 hectares added afterwards. Planted with 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenere, a rarity in Medoc despite used to be popular in the old times. The vine averages 53 years of age.

With manual harvesting, the berries are picked in several tries into small baskets. Manually sorting was done twice, before the grapes are moved into the winery, prior to getting an optical scanning. The must is fermented in stainless steel vats, with temperature control, before aged in new oak barrels (30%) for 14-18 months. About 14000 cases of grand vin is made but there is no second wine.

I have recently tasted the 1998 and 2004 vintage. Below is my tasting note for the 2004 one:

Good quality Pauillac of deep ruby color, the wine has a fairly intense nose showing good complexity and developing aromas of black cherry and blackcurrant, iris, liquorice, cedar, cocoa and chocolate, meaty. Fairly high in acidity, the tannin is fairly strong but also a bit gripping, which probably requires more time to soften. Fairly full-bodied, the palate is reasonably intense with black cherry, vanilla and cedar, liquorice, cocoa, and having a reasonably long finish. It is ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.