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Small port and communal appellation in the Medoc district of Bordeaux which has the unparalleled distinction of boasting three of the five first growths ranked in Bordeaux's most famous classification within its boundaries-Chx Lafite, Latour, and Mouton-Rothschild-as well as a bevy of other classed growths rivalling them (and each other) with increasing insistence. For all the importance of its wines, Pauillac gives the impression of being the only settlement in the Haut-Medoc to have an existence independent of wine-an impression reinforced by its size and nearby industrial installations.
This, however, is Cabernet Sauvignon country par excellence, and while there is considerable variation between different properties' terroirs and wine-making policies and capabilities, certain expressions recur in Pauillac tasting notes: cassis (blackcurrant), cedar, and cigar box (the last two sometimes a reflection of the top-quality French oak cooperage which the selling prices of Pauillac permit). A high proportion of the Medoc's most concentrated wines are produced here. More than 1,100 ha/2,700 acres of vines qualify for the appellation in an almost continuous strip between Pauillac's boundary with St-Julien to the south and St-Estephe to the north, separated from the waters of the Gironde estuary by only a few hundred metres of palus too marshy for serious viticulture (although very suitable for grazing Pauillac's famous agneaux presales, saltmarsh lamb). This strip of vines, 3 km/2 miles wide and more than 6 km long, dedicated to the production of the world's most famously long-lived red wine, is divided into two by the small river Gaet, whose banks are also unsuitable for vines. As elsewhere in the Medoc, the layers of gravel here provide the key to wine quality, offering excellent drainage, aided by the almost imperceptibly undulating topography and a series of jalles or streams running water off the gravelly plateau and into the Gironde. The stars of the northern sector of Pauillac are undoubtedly the two Rothschild (see Rothschilds and wine) properties Chx Lafite and Mouton-Rothschild, whose plots of vineyard are intermingled on the plateau of Le Pouyalet, reaching the considerable (for the Medoc) altitude of 30 m/100 ft at its highest point. Clustered around them are their satellite properties, whose wines benefit from the first-class wine-making ability of their owners. Ch Duhart-Milon-Rothschild is Lafite's fourth growth, made in the town of Pauillac. The fifth growths Ch Clerc-Milon and Ch d'Armailhac (called Ch Mouton Baron Philippe and then Ch Mouton Baronne Philippe between 1956 and 1989) are made, to an often very high standard, close to Mouton itself. Other classed growths on this plateau just a stream away from St-Estephe are the fifth growths Chx Pontet-Canet and the generally much less exciting Pedesclaux. Throughout the 1970s much was made of the inter-Rothschild rivalry in the northern half of Pauillac, resolved by the next generation. In the mid 1980s and early 1990s, the extreme south of the appellation around the village of St-Lambert has been a battleground for wine supremacy, between first growth Ch Latour and, particularly, its near neighbours the two Pichons. All three of these made considerable investments in their vineyards, chais, and more cosmetic aspects of their property, and the Pichons have demonstrated that, just like first growth Latour, they are capable of making sublime wine at the St-Julien end of Pauillac. The Pichon-Longueville estate was originally one, but had already been divided into a smaller `Baron' portion and a larger Comtesse de Lalande portion by the time the 1855 classification ranked them in the bottom half of the second growths (a much lower position than they merit today). In the early 20th century Pichon-Baron, as it was known, was highly regarded. By the early 1980s, Pichon-Longueville-Lalande had decisively overtaken it in reputation. By the early 1990s, however, Pichon-Baron had been lavishly renovated by AXA Millesimes and renamed, confusingly, Pichon-Longueville, once more offering a perennial challenge to its neighbours. In the hinterland of this southern extreme of Pauillac are neighbouring fifth growths Chx Batailley and Haut-Batailley, whose wines can challenge those of fifth growth Ch Grand-Puy-Lacoste to the immediate north, which is run impeccably by the Borie family and can offer some of Pauillac's best value. A dozen of the 18 fifth growths are in Pauillac, and none has been more successful than the Cazes family's flamboyantly styled Ch Lynch-Bages (the name betraying the original Irish connection), whose standing and fame suggest a considerably higher ranking. Chx Lynch-Moussas, Croizet-Bages, and Grand-Puy-Ducasse have rarely merited the limelight, although Grand-Puy-Ducasse was extensively renovated in the 1980s. Ch Haut-Bages-Liberal, between Chx Latour and Lynch-Bages, has produced fine vintages. Two of Pauillac's most distinctive products do not feature in the 1855 classification. Les Forts de Latour, the second wine (see second wines) of Ch Latour, is regularly one of its most successful wines (and it is priced as such), while the co-operative at Pauillac is a particularly important one, selling some of its considerable produce under the name La Rose Pauillac. For more information see Medoc and Bordeaux. Bibliography - Coates, C., Grands Vins (London, 1995).
- Duijker, H., and Broadbent, M., The Bordeaux Atlas (London, 1997).
- Parker, R., Bordeaux (3rd edn., New York, 1998).
- Penning-Rowsell, E., The Wines of Bordeaux (6th edn., London, 1989).
References AXA Bordeaux classed growth classification drainage gravel Medoc Rothschilds and wine second wines St-Estephe St-Julien terroir
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