Château Julia
Pauillac, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France
WHERE
Sophie Martin
WHO
Row by row farming, tiny quantities, one woman show
HOW
Haut-Médoc, La Petite Julia (R)
Haut-Médoc, Château Julia (R)
Pauillac, Château Julia (R)
WINES
On the sandy Medoc plains around the village of Pauillac, down a dirt track road there are two small parcels of 60-year-old Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted by Sophie Martin’s father and grandfather. They sold the grapes to local cooperatives until 2010, when neighbouring growers started selling their land to Lynch-Bages and Sophie decided to build a barn in her garden and buy winemaking equipment.
Her 0.62 hectares of Pauillac vines, in the Bages lieut-dit, produce around 3 - 4,000 bottles each vintage, making her the smallest Pauillac producer by a short mile. The Pauillac is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, making it especially elegant and fragrant in style, whilst maintaining its rustic gravelly structure.
Only a 5 minute drive away, Sophie also has 4.5 Ha in Saint Laurent Médoc, where she has 40-year-old vines planted in limestone-clay soils and makes 6,000 bottles of Haut Médoc, which she calls La Petite Julia. The wine offers ripe fruit, generous texture, an elegant finish and comes in at a very modest price-point.
Sophie Martin’s Pauillac comes from a 0.62 hectare plot that borders Lynch-Bages, making her the smallest Pauillac producer by a short mile.
Manual harvest. Aged 18 months in oak, equally split between 1st, 2nd and 3rd fill barriques.
A fresh, elegant left-bank wine, lush with fruit, which retains the structure and grit of a Pauillac.
80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
13.5% alc.
Produced by Château Julia
Grand Vin de Bordeaux, AOC Haut-Médoc
60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot
All stainless steel for this wine, keeping it fresh. Pretty, perfumed black fruit with a mineral, herbal core.
On the sandy Medoc plains around the village of Pauillac, down a dirt track road there are two small parcels making up about 30 rows of 60-year-old Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted by Sophie Martin’s father and grandfather. They sold the grapes to local cooperatives until 2010, when neighbouring coop growers started selling their land to Lynch-Bages, Sophie decided to build a barn in her garden and buy winemaking equipment.
Grand Vin de Bordeaux, AOC Haut-Médoc
60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
Manual harvest and a hand triage on sorting table. Fermented in stainless steel followed by 18 months in used barrel.
14% alc.
Black cherry, vanilla, baking spice and so much freshness at the same time. A classic, elegant Bordeaux.
On the sandy Medoc plains around the village of Pauillac, down a dirt track road there are two small parcels making up about 30 rows of 60-year-old Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted by Sophie Martin’s father and grandfather. They sold the grapes to local cooperatives until 2010, when neighbouring coop growers started selling their land to Lynch-Bages, Sophie decided to build a barn in her garden and buy winemaking equipment.