Château Maucaillou

Château Maucaillou owes its name to an old expression, a combination of the words "mauvais" and "caillou", referring to soils that are unfavorable for growing crops but suitable for vines. The vineyard is located in Moulis-en-Médoc, in the Haut-Médoc region, between Margaux and Saint-Julien.

Château Maucaillou was built in 1875, and its vineyard is one of the oldest in the Médoc region. At the time, it comprised 3 hectares of vines. Maucaillou is, above all, a family story that rhymes with passion and patience. Originally, the château resembled a Baroque dream, halfway between the Renaissance style and the Arcachon villa, a style in vogue in the Médoc at the end of the 19th century. Roger and André Dourthe, two brothers with a passion for wine, took over the estate and spared no effort to make it prosper, increasing it to 20 hectares in 1967.

Roger Dourthe's son Philippe managed the Maucaillou estate until 2007. During this period, he enlarged the estate with 67 hectares of additional vines, making Maucaillou one of the 3 domes of the Moulis appellation, with a total of 87 hectares. Philippe Dourthe has worked for the profession for many years. For 15 years, he was President of the Syndicat de l'Appellation Moulis. In 2007, he passed the torch to his children: Caroline (Head of Public Relations - Musée des Arts et Métiers de la Vigne et du Vin), Magali (Technical Director) and Pascal (Chairman and Managing Director). These complementary siblings are determined to continue in the Dourthe tradition.

Château Maucaillou's state-of-the-art winemaking equipment is frequently cited as an example. The owner favors low-temperature vinification for the first few days, to extract the quintessential fruit aromas from the grapes, for a delicate, precise extraction. Then, at the end of fermentation, the temperature is raised to extract the finest tannins and color. Chateau Maucaillou is a wine for laying down, with a long finish. The two words that best define the Maucaillou style are finesse and richness. The grapes are harvested by hand, and the vineyard is run in a sustainable manner, producing around 600,000 bottles a year.

Château Maucaillou's terroirs consist of fine Quaternary alluvial ridges, most of which come from the Garonne gravelly Güntz nappe, the source of the Médoc's Grands Crus Classés. The well-balanced grape varieties include the classic Médoc varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Maucaillou red wine has a magnificent color. It is rich in subtle tannins that give it its astonishing length on the palate. It is the result of the combination of three essential elements cultivated by successive generations of winemakers:

- drastic selection during the grape harvest;

- a meticulous winemaking process in large thermo-regulated vats (automatic temperature control);

- ageing in cellars housing 2,600 regularly-renewed stave-wood oak barrels.

Thanks to the privileges of its terroir and the loving, passionate care lavished on vinification, barrel ageing and bottling, Château Maucaillou wines attain an exceptional class that has nothing to envy many of the Médoc's Grands Crus Classés. Maucaillou wines have won a large number of commendations and awards.