Chateau Talbot
From the plateau of Saint-Julien, Château Talbot can be seen in the distance among an ocean of vines, parks and tall trees. The winery has a rich history to tell. It owes its name to the Earl of Shrewsbury, Connétable Talbot. He was governor of Guyenne and a famous English general who was defeated at the Battle of Castillon in 1453.
In 1855, at the time of the Médoc and Graves classifications ordered by Emperor Napoleon III, Château Talbot was promoted as the fourth classified cultivation of Saint-Julien. It belonged to the Marquis de Aux for several decades and was bought by Désiré Cordier in 1918.
The terroir of Château Talbot is ideally located on the banks of the Gironde estuary on hills of alluvial gravel brought from the Dordogne by the Massif Central and the Garonne by the Pyrenees. The 110 hectares of Château Talbot vineyard surround the estate and extend to the border of the Pauillac appellation.
On a terroir composed of fine Gunzian gravel with a fossil-rich limestone core, there is a large majority of red vines and a rather small acreage of white wines.
The management of the vineyards is one of the most impeccable in the Medoc. The wines, supervised by Nancy Bignon-Cordier with the invaluable advice of winemaker Eric Boissenot and consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, are consistently rich but extremely elegant. The soft taste and their silky tannins allow them to be drunk both young and after prolonged aging.
Over time they develop a delicate and complex aromatic bouquet with notes of cedar and Havana tobacco.