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Unlock Insider Access to this Rare White Bordeaux
Château La Clarière Blanc 2023
6 bottles – $239.94 $143.94 ($23.99 per bottle)
12 bottles – $479.88 $275.88 ($22.99 per bottle)
How much difference can an invisible line make?
Tony Laithwaite was just a college student on a trip to Bordeaux. Sent to study rocks and artifacts, he discovered a secret hidden in plain sight: Castillon lies on the same limestone ridge as the most famous wine estates in Saint-Émilion (see below for why that’s so important).
The vineyards, the climate and the soil (or as the French like to say, the terroir) are pretty much identical. The only thing that separates Castillon from Saint-Émilion is a civic border, which has nothing to do with wine, dating back to the 12th century.
On either side of that invisible line, the wines command vastly different prices.
Tony took a leap of faith. He acquired an estate in Castillon and made his red wine just like a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, proving that a wine’s quality isn’t determined by the name of the producer or region on the label.
Now, he’s on a mission to do the same thing with the region’s rare white wines. The cult Bordeaux Blancs of Saint-Émilion draw high prices. For example, a bottle of Château Cheval Blanc’s highly sought-after white, Le Petit Cheval Blanc, will cost you over $150 a bottle. But Château La Clarière Blanc brings you the same elegance, nuance and refreshment for a fraction of the price.
If you ask me, white Bordeaux doesn’t get nearly enough attention, though my neighbors in Saint-Émilion charge quite a lot for theirs. I made this wine for those who believe it’s what inside the bottle that really counts.
a british man walks
into a bordeaux Château
It’s not the set-up of a joke. It’s the chance encounter that led to this incredible wine.
Before Tony Laithwaite revolutionized the British wine industry, he was just a college student with an affinity for the French countryside. When the opportunity arose to go on an archeological dig in Bordeaux, Tony took it. That decision changed the course of his life, and Castillon, forever.
The year was 1969…
As a college student on a trip to Bordeaux, Tony washed bottles at the local co-op and learned that Castillon lies on the same limestone ridge as Saint-Émilion.
A man on a mission
In the 1980s, Tony’s former employers and wine mentors, Mr. and Mrs. Cassin, asked him to take over their estate and prove what Castillon was capable of.
The rest is history
40 years later, Château La Clarière is the top estate in Castillon—even after all the big names in Saint-Émilion followed Tony over the border!
go for the Gris
As you can probably tell, Tony Laithwaite and chief winemaker Jean-Marc Sauboua (pictured in the vineyards) aren’t satisfied with doing things exactly by the book. So, instead of blending their bright, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon (its traditional partner in Bordeaux), they used Sauvignon Gris to achieve greater complexity of flavor.
Sauvignon Gris is a clonal variant of its much more famous “cousin” grape variety, Sauvignon Blanc. While similar, Sauvignon Gris often has richer flavors like spice, melon and peaches, compared to the citrus and herbal tones of Sauvignon Blanc.
It’s not just unique on the palate, either. The grape’s skins often have a pretty grayish pink hue that spots the vineyards.
But Sauvignon Gris is quite rare. Due to its low-yielding nature (which typically makes for high-quality, concentrated grapes), the grape variety nearly went extinct. Lucky for us all, Sauvignon Gris is being carefully cultivated by innovative estates like Château La Clarière in Bordeaux.
Leading the way in Castillon
Château La Clarière doesn’t take any shortcuts when it comes to making wine. The vineyards are tended with an eye for sustainability. A horse slowly plods the rows of the terraced vineyards, led by the talented and determined Susana Teixeira.
Susana visits four times a year with her horses, who do an amazing job plowing the inter-row weeds back into the soil to feed it with nutrients. Even though the horse is large and heavy, the tread is much lighter than a tractor’s, so soils are less compacted.
There are plenty of elite names who have signed up for equine plowing—in Bordeaux, Châteaux Ausone, Troplong-Mondot, Pontet-Canet and Latour, to name just a few.
Château La Clarière was the first estate in Castillon to use a grape sorting table, which ensures only the best grapes are used. These are then gently lifted (not pumped) into tanks to avoid “bruising” the wine.
In the cellar, the wine is aged in new French oak barrels—all made by the finest coopers, Seguin Moreau and Taransaud. The wine spends a year in these barriques. It’s the Grand Cru treatment that Castillon wines deserved.
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Choose 6 or 12 bottles for your first shipment. Then, each following year in June, 6-bottle partnerships will receive 6 bottles of the new vintage at $143.94 and 12-bottle partnerships will receive 12 bottles of the new vintage at $275.88. You’re free to cancel any time.
