Chateau de Malle

The Malle family in the region could be traced to the 14^th century, with the first suggestion of a vineyard dating from the 15^th century, Chateau de Malle is a 17^th century monument, built by Jacques de Malle in 1650. His great-grandson Pierre de Malle was a counselor to Louis XIV, with his daughter Jeanne marrying to Alexandre-Eutrope de Lur-Saluces in 1702, passing the ownership of the estate to the powerful Sauternes family.

The Lur-Saluces family also owned Y’quem, Coutet and Filhot, with Alexandre Eutrope the one who commissioned the construction of the Italian gardens behind the chateau. However, with the acquisition of Y’quem, the family’s attention was more focused on that instead of de Malle.

After the French Revolution, the family retained ownership of the estate, and was subsequently bequeathed to Henri de Lur-Saluces. At that time, the wine was ranked a deuxieme cru in the 1855 classification. It was then inherited by Pierre de Lur-Saluces in 1885.

The property was uninhibited for much of the 20^th century, probably because of the expensive cost to maintain it. Unfortunately, the works in the vineyards also faltered and the cellars also fell into a state of disrepair. Luckily, by 1947 there was a revival, after the arrival of Pierre de Bournazel, who inherited the property from his uncle Pierre de Lur-Saluces.

Originally an electrical engineer, Pierre began to restore the chateau, also studying oenology and management in his spare time. He decided to replant the vineyards, majority of which were killed by the frost in 1956. Pierre later became president of the Crus Classes de Sauternes et Barsac, but he only moved to Chateau de Malle in 1981.

With his death in 1985 the estate was passed to his widow Nancy de Bournazel, who continued to do what her husband had been doing, namely the restoration of the chateau and gardens, and continue to do wine-making. The gardens today are one of 300 Jardins Remarguables by the French Ministry of Culture. Now she had passed on to her sons Paul-Henry, Antoine and Charles, with the former now continuing to run the property.

The vineyards extend across three communes, Toulenne, Preignac and Fargues, with the latter two qualify for Sauternes. There are 50 hectares of vines but of which 28 ha are within Sauternes, planted with 69% Semillon, 28% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Muscadelle. The vines average 30-40 years, at a density of 6000 vines per ha. The soils are a mix of sand, clay and limestone.

Manually harvested, there are typically 3-5 tries to pick the botrytised berries, with a low yield of 12-15 hl/ha. The grapes are pressed in the cellar, allowing to settle overnight before vinify in oak, of which 33% are new each year. Using indigenous yeast, the wines are racked off the barrel into tank, either stainless steel or cement, before fining and filtered prior to bottling.

The grand vin is Chateau de Malle and the second is Sainte-Helene du Chateau de Malle, taking fruit from the younger vines, with total annual production around 40000 bottles. There is also a white produced, by the names M de Malle, and another red called Chateau de Cardeillan.

I have recently tasted the 2003 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance
Bright and clear, this wine is of deep orange-gold color, with legs.

Nose
Clean, the nose shows pronounced intensity aromas of citrus fruit of orange marmalade and orange peel, maturity notes of honey and caramel, stone fruit of apricot, oak notes of butterscotch. The wine is developing.

Palate
Sweet, with medium (+) acidity and medium (+) alcohol, the wine is of full body with medium (+) intensity flavors of citrus fruit such as orange peel and marmalade, stone fruit of apricot, maturity notes of honey, kernel notes of walnut and oak notes of butterscotch. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion
Very good quality Sauternes with a very intense nose showing good complexity, the palate is in good balance with the acidity and sweetness in harmony, on top of good intense flavors of good complexity. The finish is fairly long, and the only thing missing is that elegance which can render the wine to an even higher level. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 8-10 years.