Saint-Estèphe
Maritime
The northernmost of the great Médoc communes, with heavier clay soils that give firm, sturdy, long-lived reds.
Overview
About Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Estèphe lies at the northern end of the Haut-Médoc. It has five classified growths — Cos d'Estournel and Montrose, both Second Growths, then Calon-Ségur, Lafon-Rochet and Cos Labory — and a large number of good estates outside the 1855 list.
Its soils hold more clay than its southern neighbours, which gives the wines a firmer, more tannic structure and a higher proportion of Merlot in the blend. They are the slowest of the four communes to open up, and often the most rewarding for patient cellaring.
Saint-Estèphe is marked on the map.
France
Shaded: Gironde. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Maritime
Slightly cooler and more exposed than the southern Médoc. The clay-rich soils hold water, which protects vines in dry years but can leave them cold and late-ripening in wet ones.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Gravel mixed with more clay and limestone than the rest of the Haut-Médoc. The clay retains water and produces firm tannins.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Saint-Estèphe is a communal appellation with five classified estates in the 1855 Classification, plus many strong unclassified ones.
Second Growths
Cos d'Estournel and Montrose.
Third to Fifth Growths
Calon-Ségur (Third), Lafon-Rochet (Fourth) and Cos Labory (Fifth).
AOC Saint-Estèphe
Red wine only, from the Bordeaux red varieties.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.