【Feature】Château Chasse-Spleen
Some people attribute the name to Lord Byron during a trip he made to France and others to Charles Baudelaire when he visited a friend who happened to live next to the château. What is certain is that the painter Odilon Redon, neighbour of the estate and illustrator of "Paris Spleen", did suggest this lovely name to the estate owners in 1863.
Chasse-Spleen has been managed by women for the past thirty years: Jacques Merlaut's daughter, Bernadette Villars, starting in 1976, followed by her daughter, Claire, beginning in 1992, and now her second daughter, Céline
The vineyard is located just off the Route des Châteaux, halfway between Margaux and Saint-Julien, in the smallest Médoc appellation. The estate features an extraordinarily varied terroir consisting of complementary soil types ranging from pure Garonne and Pyrenean gravel to a mixture of clay and limestone.
Chasse-Spleen's wine reflects this diversity and the best of its appellation combining the fresh, mineral qualities of Cabernet Sauvignon grown on a thick layer of gravel, and the round smoothness of Merlot planted on predominantly clay-limestone soil.
In 2017, Chasse-Spleen became home to a contemporary art centre.
- Area Under Vine: 103 hectares
- Production: 300 to 350,000 bottles
- Soil: Garonne gravel on an asteriated limestone subsoil
- Grape Varieties: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
- Ageing: 18 months for the first wine - New barrels: 40%
- Second Wine: Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen
- 32 Chemin de la Raze
- 33480 Moulis en Médoc
- Tel.: +33 (0)5 56 58 02 37
- President: Cline Villars-Foubet
- Deputy Managing Director: Jean-Pierre Foubet
- info@chasse-spleen.com
- www.chasse-spleen.com
- Facebook: Château Chasse-Spleen
- Instagram: château_chasse_spleen