The harvest of chardonnay grapes began last August 17th in the very red wine region of Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion. This was the fifth harvest of the chardonnay vine plants at Château Clarisse. Five years after the first chardonnays were planted, the estate has put into place a chardonnay vineyard of over 2.5 acres (one hectare) underscoring the growing importance of the estate’s chardonnay strategy with the aim of extending its presence to 30% of the vineyard.  Delightful white chardonnays, a new take on chardonnay is one of the more intriguing developments to come out of Bordeaux country in recent years. And Château Clarisse is emerging as a leader of the pack. 

Left: Chardonnay grapes thrive on the Château Clarisse estate in Puisseguin in the Bordeaux wine-making region of France. Photo: ©Joaquim Benamara. Right: The Chardonnay of Château Clarisse, the 2024 vintage, vin de France. Photos courtesy Château Clarisse. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

For here on the plateau of Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion and its surroundings a rare earth — for wines not technology — is found.  It is a rare limestone known as calcaire à asteries (limestone containing small fossilised starfish), dating from the Oligocene epoch which graced the face of the earth some 37 million to 25 million years ago. It is apparently an excellent soil for growing chardonnay grapes. Chardonnay the whte is emerging in the Puissegain-Saint-Emillion land of full-bodied reds. This earth anchors the vineyard allowing for the roots to grow deep, reaching into a rich mineral quality of the earth. In 2020, the Château Clarisse wine estate made the bold decision to plant this good earth with chardonnay grapes. The result today is a dashingly dry chardonnay wine, flavorful, surprising, all the more so because it is born in the cradle of red wine country in the Gironde region of Bordeaux. The chardonnay of the Chateau Clarisse is planted on one of the highest plateaus in Gironde and so the vine plants enjoy a constant flow of air blowing over the vineyard preserving the acidity of the grapes.

Ironically before the great and tragic phylloxera epidemic of the 19th century it wasn’t uncommon for white wines to be produced in the region of Saint-Emilion. Château Clarisse is aiming to let the terroir — the good earth and its growing conditions of exposure and climate — create a unique chardonnay. The result is not like a Burgundy or a Californian chardonnay, but its own identity filled with a certain body, you could almost mistake it for a tangy sauvignon. But excellent it is. The 2023 and 2024 vintages are already sold out. The agricultural engineer and oenologist Julien Viaud and cellar master Tiphanie Bondu Ballateau at Château Clarisse worked together to elaborate this unique chardonnay at the estate which was founded by current owners Didier and Olivia Le Calvez in 2009. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette

6 route de Lussac, 33570 Puisseguin, France. Tel:  +33 5 57 74 22 12.  https://chateau-clarisse.com/