Called ‘Camp Fourtet’ in the Middle Ages, this superb property was a fortified place designed to protect the town of Saint Emilion. The peace and quiet has now been restored and the estate has kept its stone enclosures which make the Château walled, giving it a very special atmosphere. It was in the 18th
century and it still reflects the splendour of the architecture and the wine world of that time. On the limestone plateau veiled by aeolian sands which constitutes the privileged terroir of the great wines of Saint-Emilion, Clos Fourtet is both one of the best situated and one of the oldest reputed crus. The estate consists of 20 hectares of vines around an authentic bourgeois residence dating from the end of the Ancien Régime. Clos Fourtet is built at the gates of the medieval town on huge underground quarries where its wines are aged in barrels and its noble bottles.

It is one of the most visited and admired wine sites in Saint-Emilion. It owes its fame to the Rulleau family and the Carles family, lords of Figeac who, during the 18th century, knew how to make the most of this ungrateful soil with little arable land but with exceptional natural drainage: the vine produces little because it suffers, an essential condition for the production of very great wines.

The old vines, the judicious planting, the traditional vinification controlled by the most modern techniques, the ageing in new barrels in its immense cellars favour the expression of what nature has given to this cru. The Lurton family took over the Château in 1949 and has made progress in the vineyard and its wines, particularly over the last 10 years. In 2001, the property was bought by Philippe Cuvelier, who continued to modernise it.

Website: www.closfourtet.com