Château Clarisse bets on Chardonnay
‘Chardonnay is a global brand, everyone recognises it’: in Puisseguin, Château Clarisse ultimately aims to devote more than 30% of its vineyard area to white grapes.
Château Clarisse is building its growth on Chardonnay, the leading grape of Burgundy, yet one absent from the Bordeaux appellation rules. ‘Clarisse’ is released as a Vin de France.
‘This is our fifth harvest. We did not bottle the 2022. We were not satisfied…’ Didier Le Calvez moves forward with method and rigour. A hospitality professional in his seventies, he has put his whole heart, as well as his commercial experience, into Château Clarisse, the estate he acquired in 2009 with his wife Olivia. He already knows what he wants, and gives himself the means to achieve it. ‘For me, wine is a passion, not a costly indulgence,’ he says with a smile, dispelling an old cliché. For the reds, he is betting on Cabernet Franc, looking closely at what is done at Ausone and Cheval Blanc, and restructuring his vineyard, with land in Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion as well as in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux.
The idea of developing a range of whites then took root...
