Château Laroque Winery
"At every step, our decisions are characterised by our search for the right balance."
The Beaumartin family
On the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, Laroque stands like a fortified fortress, bearing witness to nine centuries of Libournais history.
With its historic keep, Château Laroque is a reminder of turbulent times. The grand cru classé wine estate in Saint-Émilion was founded in the 12th century. With initially 270 and later 130 hectares of land, it has always had the largest estate in Saint-Émilion. This is still the case today, even if it has become smaller with 60 hectares of vineyards and 20 hectares of forest and parkland. The extensive grounds have been owned by the Beaumartin family since 1935. They acquired it when much of the property was still fallow, so they first had to recultivate it. The winery has been managed by Xavier Beaumartin since 2004, who has handed over the reins to his nephew Stanislas Droin in recent years. Along with him, the family was able to recruit Davis Suire as director. Suire was Nicolas Thienpont's right-hand man for a long time and continues to look after the Larcis-Ducasse and Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse estates for him.
Suire has put everything at Château Laroque, located in the commune of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, to the test, examining and analysing every metre of vineyard in order to create optimal conditions for the vineyards, 27 hectares of which are certified as Grand Cru Classé, in terms of care and partial replanting. As the Vin de Garde accounts for only 50 % of the yield, strict selections are possible, which have also further improved the quality of the wine in recent years. The vineyards are all located directly next to the château, but there are also two different terroirs. One is characterised by limestone with a high proportion of fossilised sea urchins, the astéries, the other by dense ferruginous clay and loam over limestone. The final version of the wine, which usually consists of around 88 % Merlot, 9 % Cabernet Franc and 3 % Cabernet Sauvignon and comes from the Astéries limestone, is matured in classic barriques. The proportion from the ferruginous clay soil is used in barrels and tonneaux. A large proportion of the grapes from the clay soil are used in the second wine "Les Tours de Laroque", which is more fleshy and immediate than the Laroque itself.
photos: Château Laroque
