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Tradition and Modernity

This little chateau was purchased in 2010 from its founder, a winemaker for Mouton Rothschild in the 1990’s. Its buildings and cellars were improved in 2004 and its domain now covers 5 hectares of noble terroir of St Estephe planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot vines averaging between 35 and 40 years of age.

The chateau overlooks its terroir of gravel and clay-limestone and neighbors include such famous brothers as the domaines Tronquoy Lalande, Château de Pez, and Pomys.

Because we believe in traditional winemaking methods, those that respect its terroir and pays great heed to the desires of the many consumers who have returned faithfully to its high quality. In an ever evolving, highly competitive environment, our long term vision is oriented towards the respect of the land and of the vines themselves. This vision guides us with an eye focused on continual progress and delivery of the highest quality products, bringing together the marriage of tradition and modernity.

To become, and to remain one of the noblest Bordeaux appellations. To remain a relatively small winery, one that keeps close to its roots and provides the personalized experience that our clients come to expect. To be characterized by the excellence of the finished product so dear to its current owner and the mastering of the winemaking process. These are the ideals in which the Chateau’s technical director strive to achieve.

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A fermenting room composed of average capacity stainless steel, temperature controlled tanks. A climate controlled wine cellar in which, each year, 40% of the vintage is stored in new French oak barrels. A manual harvest.  A selection process that allows our winemakers to select only the highest quality grapes, sorted by variety and produced using traditional, yet sustainable methods of agriculture.  These are the testimonies that give voice to the attention given to our wines.

With the harvesting process where man remains the main actor, the winemaker of the ARGILUS du Roi only uses ancestral methods which allow the extraction and fermentation processes to take the time they need in complete serenity in order to allow the grapes to release their tannins and aromas which, after aging for 12 months in barrels, will give our wine its fresh yet richly flavored taste .

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St-Estèphe, an exceptional Terroir

The domaine is rooted in 5 hectares of magnificent terroir of this appellation. It combines slopes of gravel and clay-limestone soil where Cabernet Sauvignon prospers, and well drained soils which allows a perfect maturation of the Merlot, even in poor weather conditions such as those experienced over the last several seasons.

Most of the plots are situated in the vicinity of the Chateau and are arranged in a way that makes the minimal use of machinery easy and highly beneficial to the plants.

The landscape so dear to both the Duke of Epernon and François Mauriac, close to the banks of the estuary of the majestic river Gironde, that which brings the light humidity on warm summer nights. The river brought vast quantities of stone, which was tumbled for millennia and finally came to settle in between the rows of vines. Today, this gift from the river brings a very specific thermic effect: it maintains high temperatures in fall, its gentle radiant heat allows the harvest of perfectly ripe grapes.

Such a union between climate and land is called «le Terroir».

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The Saint-Estèphe terroir rests on a bed of sediment, half way between Bordeaux and Pointe-de-Grave. What makes Saint- Estèphe so different is the incredible geological variety of both its soil and subsoil. For millennia, layers upon layers of alluvium built up, the deep tables are mainly dug in clay whereas the lower terrace is made of gravel and the higher terrace rose from and mixture of sand and gravel.

This significant wealth explains the diversity of landscapes as well as the various colors of the soil. The Saint Estèphe terroir located at the edge of the Massif Central and of the Pyrenees, a region that benefited from massive river erosion some 10,000 years ago and sculpting the landscape into the reliefs seen today. It offers well drained, curvaceous contours and slopes that are responsible for the relative dryness of the soil and the deep rooting system of the vines. Taken together, it lends the promise of a great wine.

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The Pursuit of Excellence

Every step in the process, from the first trimming in March to the October harvest, from the period of soil dormancy to the production of opulent clusters of grapes, is monitored very closely.

We choose to produce only a few thousand bottles, those bottles containing the essence of all our passions, and this, amidst the immensity of the global market, is a rare gift.

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With the vines harvested only once a year, in the best possible conditions, and making the best of the gift of a terroir so rich, allows winegrowers, who are people of faith, to control the alchemical transformation of the ripe grape into the divine elixir Plato spoke of at the dawn of philosophy.

«in vino veritas»
Plato, Symposium, 4thc. BC.

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The Nobility
of a Wine

First nobility was achieved through blood line, and later also by “taking the silk”.

With wine, nobility is acquired through the blood of the soil, and as far as the silk is concerned, the informed connoisseur will say its color ranges from purple, amber with tints of its region: Bordeaux.

Refined aromas and supple tannins, intertwined into red fruits’ fresh perfume with hints of violet, are the jewels of the crown adorning its label, a gold trim enhancing the immaculate background which highlights the prestigious name given to a geological phenomenon, a ball of clay nestled within the plots to the south of the domaine.

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Saint-Estèphe

Appellation Saint-Estèphe Contrôlée
Grape Varieties

55% Merlot
40% Cabernet Sauvignon
5% Petit Verdot

Mise en vente prévue Août 2015
Valentin LILLET Les Grands Crus
Château L'Argilus du Roi 2012

"Je viens de goûter les 2 bouteilles. Voici mes commentaires :
2011 : joli vin, mûr, encore un peu fermé avec beau potentiel.
2012 : je l’ai préféré au 2011. Très belle fraicheur. Bon potentiel également."
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Guide HACHETTE 2015
Château L'Argilus du Roi 2011

"Ce 2011 joue résolument la carte du fruit , dès l’olfaction, centrée sur les baies rouges.
Une attaque fraîche ouvre sur un palais tout aussi fruité, souple et rond, aux tanins fondus, un rien plus ferme en finale. Un vin déjà plaisant qui n’appelle pas une longue garde 2015- 2018."
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LAURENT PIRO Chef Sommelier Restaurant Les Prémices
Château L'Argilus du Roi 2010

"La couleur violine pourpre est brillante, limpide. Les larmes sont serrées avec du gras, une légère sédimentation permet de voir un élevage en bois neuf ; au nez s’expriment des notes de boisé léger avec des nuances de fruits frais, une touche de réglisse qui signe une belle maturité en bouche. Le vin est agréable, plaisant, bien équilibré ; les tanins sont souples et ronds; c’est un vin de plaisir immédiat que l’on pourra conserver sur 5 ou 6 ans avec BONHEUR !!!! La longueur en bouche est structurée et l’on retrouve des notes de cerises kirschées."
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GAULT & MILLAU
Château L'Argilus du Roi 2009

"Un vin complexe par son étendue aromatique proposant du boisé, comme des notes de bois exotiques, ou bien des fruits confits. La trame reste fraîche et tendre à la fois."
GAULT & MILLAU
Château L'Argilus du Roi 2008

"Du volume, du croquant, de la séduction et la trame du Saint-Estèphe, que demander de plus ? Belle allonge croquante que les épices viennent compléter après une poignée de fruits mûrs."
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