Every now and then, I taste a modestly priced wine from a newly established vineyard possessing a tingle of singular magic usually only found in well-known, illustrious, far pricier labels. Recent vintages of Château Montlandrie—from Bordeaux’s emerging Castillon region—elicit that tingle. But this is not so surprising when you consider Montlandrie was the last creation of Denis Durantou.

Denis’ Last Creation

Denis Durantou was famous for being the pensive, imaginative, tirelessly evolving proprietor of Château L’Eglise Clinet in Pomerol. Over the course of his lifetime, he not only improved the quality and refined the style of one of Pomerol’s greatest estates, but he also bought and recreated other properties on Bordeaux’s Right Bank: Saintayme in Saint-Émilion, Les Cruzelles in Lalande de Pomerol, and, lastly, Montlandrie in the Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux.

From my early tastings of Château Montlandrie, I have been drawn to this property. The place evokes a distinct personality and energy in its wine, which becomes more clearly defined over time—hallmarks of an emerging wine of true greatness.

Denis tragically passed away from illness in 2020 at the age of 62, leaving his vineyards in the hands of his three young daughters: Constance, Noëmie, and Alix. Today, Noëmie is co-manager and winemaker/vigneron at the estates, having worked at the properties with her father since 2016. She works alongside Olivier Gautrat, who made wine with Denis Durantou for nearly twenty years. Constance oversees sales and marketing and heads up their olive oil and truffle oak projects at Montlandrie.

Last year, during my annual Primeurs visit to L’Eglise Clinet, after tasting the 2022 vintage of Montlandrie, I asked Constance and Noëmie if I could visit their property in the Castillon. At first, they looked slightly stunned—wine critics almost never venture out to the Castillon—but then their faces lit up with excitement.

“Yes, of course,” said Constance. “Please come! We would love to show you everything Denis created. Montlandrie was his last project, you know. It meant so much to him.”

My trip to Montlandrie a few months later was one of the most memorable vineyard visits of my career.

Located in the rural countryside just east of Saint-Émilion, centered around the historic commune of Castillon-la-Bataille (where the last battle of the Hundred Years War was fought in 1453), the bucolic, hilly terrain of the Castillon region is breathtaking. It’s, therefore, shocking that it’s only a 15-to-20-minute drive from Saint-Émilion, yet so few of the tens of thousands of visitors that descend upon Saint-Émilion every year venture over this way. Still, there is much beauty in its tranquility.

Denis Durantou bought land near the heart of Castillon-la-Bataille in 2009. In fact, he found four neighboring properties and pieced them together to form Montlandrie.

“There was one main property that was owned by an Italian family in the 17th century,” said Noëmie as we drove up the steep slope of the first section of the property. “Denis imagined that they chose this place because it looked like Tuscany.”

This part of Bordeaux could indeed be mistaken for Tuscany—rolling hills of vines and olive trees with the ancient little village of terra cotta tiled roofs and jutting steeples in the background.

Château Montlandrie has 28 hectares in total, with 12 hectares under vine. The property rises to nearly 90 meters on the limestone terrace and slopes of the Côtes de Castillon, with the vineyard laid against a south-facing hillside. This is the same famous limestone terrace found in Saint-Émilion, which subsides and resurfaces just to the east in the Castillion region.

2009 was the first vintage of the newly formed Château Montlandrie, using fruit from existing vines.

“There were vines here when our dad purchased the property,” explained Constance. “But he completely replanted everything with his own planting material, density (based on the Golden Ratio), and row orientation. All the Merlot and Cabernet Franc planting material comes from L’Eglise Clinet.”

Today, around 70% of the vines planted at Montlandrie are Merlot, with a smaller proportion of Cabernet Franc and increasing amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon.

“Dad started the replanting process as soon as the parcels were purchased in Castillon, and then all the vineyards were replanted progressively,” said Noëmie. “Therefore, more wine has become available as the years went on. A little Cabernet Sauvignon was first planted when he bought the property and then made it into the blend from 2013 onwards. Dad was really excited when he planted the Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a new clone. He was sharing the news with everyone.”

The soils here are mainly clay mixed with limestone and silex.

“This is very similar terroir to Saint-Émilion,” said Noëmie. “Only Saint-Émilion has large areas of solid limestone; here, the limestone is in the form of big rocks. The clay can become very heavy and wet, making going up the steep slopes for spraying difficult in the spring.”

The estate has a dedicated, functionally stoic yet state-of-the-art winery.

“Solar panels have been installed to provide our own energy source,” Constance pointed out. “It was very important to Denis to be self-sufficient.”

From the winery, we circled around to the other side of the estate, past two old windmill towers.

“Montlandrie means ‘hill of windmills,’” Constance smiled.

Soon, we came to a large grove of olive trees. “We make olive oil from these trees. It’s a project I’m working on. Our dad planted a lot of olive and fruit trees. It was part of his big plan. We also have beehives, and we make our own honey.”

Our final stop was at a large, stone-walled amphitheater with a white turreted mini castle in the center. If this was anyone else’s creation, it would be bizarrely out of place. Here, this mystical focal point is completely apropos, symbolizing myriads of possibilities. Noëmie, who studied theater for a time, danced about the space, speaking breathlessly about one day putting on performances in this spot, maybe concerts. Constance sat captivated on the steps, beaming as her sister explained their shared dreams for this place. She turned to me and said, “This is such a big project, and there is still so much to do. This is our dad. It’s amazing what he did.”