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Chateau Le Boscq

AOC Saint-Estèphe
Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

A WINE CRAFTED BY THE RIVER

Located on a magnificent terroir bordering the Gironde Estuary, overlooked by a majestic residence testament to its rich, centuries-old history. Distinguished red wines are produced here in the Château Le Boscq vineyard, which elegantly meld typical Saint-Estèphe robust character with unusual finesse. Dourthe has had a passion for this bijou estate in Saint-Estèphe since 1995.

Château Le Boscq, whose wines rival the quality of its prestigious grand cru neighbours…
Terre de Vins

Key facts

94/100

James Suckling

550

Metres of hedgerows planted.

 

0

CMR / chemical fertilisers / pesticides / herbicides

Planting

10,5 Ha Merlot
8 Ha Cabernet Sauvignon
1 Ha Petit Verdot
0,5 Ha Cabernet Franc

Soil profile

High, deep hilltop comprised of Garonne gravel and clay.

Total surface area

20 Ha

Our wines

Classified in 2020 as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, Château Le Boscq is a prestigious, elegant Saint-Estèphe wine, harmoniously allying the power of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with the delicacy of Merlot.

Refined and well-balanced, the wine shows great potential and will improve with ageing.

Terroir

Château Le Boscq is blessed with one of the finest aspects in Saint-Estèphe. The exceptional terroir, reaching 18m at the highest point, and gravel and clay outcrop, run alongside the Gironde, Europe’s largest estuary. Like the finest classic Medoc estates, Le Boscq lies on the front line where the microclimate often proves a godsend.

No expense is spared in revealing the exceptional quality of this premium terroir. Careful mapping of the vineyards has brought in-depth knowledge of each parcel and micro-parcel. The grape variety-terroir mix has therefore been carefully planned. The gravel outcrop promotes optimum ripeness in the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, while the slopes, with their cooler soils, are ideally suited to Merlot.

The estuary, which acts as a natural regulator, mitigates the effects of cold winters and very hot summers. The vineyard therefore manages to escape devastating frosts in 2017 and 1991, and also the 2003 heatwave.

 

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Viticulture

Ambitious viticulture, advocating an environmentally-conscious approach.

The Le Boscq vineyard comprises 18ha of vines managed sustainably in its commitment to protect the environment. The estate is made up of several parcels dissected further into small ‘gardens’, with a high planting density of on average 9080 vines per hectare.

The estate is seen to go above and beyond the requirements of the two certifications, HVE3 and Terra Vitis.

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Guyot Poussard.

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Traditional ploughing, mechanical weeding. Manual budstripping, desuckering, leaf thinning and lateral shoot removal on Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Organic and biological control agents as a priority. CMR pesticides banned. Pheromone traps. Sustainable cover planting, temporary sowing depending on plot vigour.

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Grapes of inconsistent ripeness are removed from mid-veraison as required. Selective harvesting. Manual. Sorting before destemming. Densimetric sorting before being transferred to tank by conveyor belt.

Winemaking and ageing

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

The grapes are received in a gravity-flow winery. The tank room is equipped with a system of optical sorting backed by densimetric sorting, to ensure a very precise selection of grapes, which are then gently transported by conveyor belt. The wines are aged in barriques, separated into batches until the blending stage, in two partly underground cellars.

Interestingly, not a single pump is used to receive the grapes in the winery in order to protect the quality of the grapes and keep the berries whole. Vinification takes place in small-capacity stainless-steel tanks. This way, small parcels of identical grapes can be vinified together, continuing the precision-led approach initiated in the vineyard.

The winery is equipped with optical and densimetric sorting for greater precision in sorting the grapes.

The team

Chateau Le Boscq - Dourthe

Joachim Gilbert, Estate Manager

Frédéric Bonnaffous, Chief Winemaker

Our history

Since 1995, at Château Le Boscq we have continued to write our history already spanning 3 centuries, and featuring some of the famous names who have shaped Bordeaux, such as Thomas Barton. Discover the story of our ‘Gabarre’ Château, symbolising an era when barrels of wine were taken to Bordeaux by river on these majestic ‘gabarre’ barge-style boats.

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