Chateau Clerc Milon Pauillac Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Clerc Milon, Pauillac, Fifth Growth with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn all the best vintages, wine ratings, a history of the property, information on vineyards and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Clerc Milon History, Overview

During the early 1800s, numerous small Bordeaux wine vineyards were located in the appellation of Pauillac. One of the better small estates was owned by M. Mandavy. That chateau later became Chateau Duhart Milon. Next to their vineyards sat a Bordeaux wine vineyard belonging to Mr. Jean-Baptiste Clerc.

The Clerc family owned the vineyard at the time of the 1855 Classification. Clerc sold part of his estate to Mr. Lamena before he passed away in 1863. The remaining portion of his holdings was inherited by his widow.

That part which had been purchased by the Lamena family was sold to Jacques Mondon, who mounted a legal challenge for the right to use the estate name of Clerc Milon. Despite owning the smaller part of the original estate, he won the case. The property became known as Clerc Milon-Mondon for a short time.

The vineyard holdings were broken up first in 1877 during the widows’ successions and finally reduced to just half its original size after that. Jacques Mondon, a notary in Pauillac, bought the estate and began to bottle and sell the wine as Clerc Milon Mondon.

In the 1960s, the chateau and vineyards passed into the hands of Jacques Vialard, another Pauillac notary, and then on his death, the vineyard was given to his sisters Marie and Marguerite Vialard. Baron Philippe de Rothschild, the owner of Chateau Mouton Rothschild acquired Clerc Milon from the family in 1970.

Chateau Clerc Milon The Modern Age

A series of different owners and sales had completely forgotten about Chateau Clerc Milon to the point where the original vineyard was divided into several hundred parcels, with almost as many title deeds.

Poorly maintained, Clerc Milon had only 10.5 hectares of vines in production and was little known outside of Pauillac at the time is was purchased by Baron Rothschild. The Baron described it as; “A pretty estate in a high-quality terroir, that was currently in poor condition.” He was right. And that was soon to change.

Knowing something about image, after all the Baron in part recreated Mouton Rothschild in his own flamboyant image, he decided Clerc Milon also needed its own identity to stand out in the Medoc. He chose a representation of a Jungfraubecher, a German marriage cup dating from 1609 which is on display in the Museum of Wine in Art at Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

In 1983, the illustration for the Chateau Clerc Milon label was changed to a pair of dancing clowns made of precious stones. The original art was created by a 16th-century German goldsmith, also displayed in the Museum at Mouton.

In 2007, Clerc Milon renovated the Left Bank estate and constructed new wine-making facilities. This is important to note as Chateau Clerc Milon does not have an actual chateau. Instead, they have only technical wine-making facilities. Part of these major improvements started with the new vat house. Entirely gravity-fed, it completely eliminates the need for pump-overs.

The new facilities at Clerc Milon are based on a green philosophy. Energy is produced due to the 300 square meters of photovoltaic cells on the rooftop. Chateau Clerc Milon lays claim to being the first vat house with HQE (High Environmental Quality) certification in the Bordeaux wine-making region.

The estate added a new barrel cellar which was built inside a small hill placing half the cellars underground. This keeps the cellar cold while taking advantage of the environment. Work continues on replanting the vineyards. Optical sorting is also used. All of these improvements in the facilities have clearly helped create a better wine at Clerc Milon.

In time for the 2017 harvest, Clerc Milon became the first estate in Bordeaux to use robotics in their vineyards. Nicknamed, Ted, the robot was created in a partnership with Naio technologies. Originally, the robot was conceived to aid in simpler, agricultural, vegetable farming. But with the right technological innovations, Ted, was altered for grape harvesting.

Chateau Clerc Milon Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 45 hectare vineyard of Clerc Milon in Pauillac is planted to 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenere. Chateau Clerc Milon maintains one of the largest plantings of Carmenere in Bordeaux. The vineyard has a terroir that is a complex array of gravel, limestone, sand, and clay-based soils.

The vineyard is spread over 247 different parcels, making it a very difficult patchwork of soils to farm and harvest. The owners are trying to slowly change that. When neighboring parcels are replanted, they are now joined together. With one small exception, a small parcel of vines placed close to Chateau Pedesclaux, all of their vines are in 1 large block.

Chateau Clerc Milon is in the northern part of Pauillac, with vines next to 2 First Growth estates, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lafite Rothschild. The best parcels of Clerc Milon are located on a plateau, not too far from the Gironde estuary. Today, close to 50% of their vines are farmed using organic farming techniques.

On average, the vines are 53 years of age. However, they have even older vines. In fact, they own some Carmenere vines that were planted all the way back in 1947. Those are the oldest remaining Carmenere vines in the entire Bordeaux appellation! They have even older Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 1903!

The vine density is the same as what is planted at neighboring Chateau Mouton Rothschild with 10,000 vines per hectare. All work in their vineyard is done using only, 100% biodynamic farming and sustainable vineyard management techniques.

To produce the wine of Chateau Clerc Milon, vinification takes place in 40 stainless steel temperature vats which allow for very precise vinification of the vineyard’s 45 hectares of vines.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in tank. The wine of Chateau Clerc Milon is aged in an average of 30% new, French oak barrels for between 14 and 18 months. The amount of oak and time in the barrel depends on the character of the vintage.

To commemorate the property’s newly reconstructed chai, starting with the 2010 vintage, the wine featured a new label designed by Richard Peduzzi. Richard Peduzzi is best known as the interior set designer for the Louvre and d’Orsay museums in Paris.

In 2015, Chateau Clerc announced they were going to start producing a second wine, Pastourelle de Clerc Milon to help continue increasing the quality of their Grand Vin. However, the better term would be, they were about to start releasing a second wine, as Pastourelle de Clerc Milon was made starting with the 2009 vintage.

The best vintages of Chateau Clerc Milon are 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006 2005, 2003 and 2000.

Clerc Milon produces a charming style of Pauillac. In the best vintages, this classically styled Bordeaux wine offers ample concentration of currants, blackberry, and spice. This property has recently undergone major renovations in the cellars and in the vineyards. Management has changed as well. 2009 and 2010 were the finest young vintages of Clerc Milon I’ve ever tasted.

That changed with the sublime 2016 vintage here. The wine expresses ample Pauillac character with a good concentration of flavors paired with supple textures. Hopefully, this trend to producing better wine at this property will continue as I expect good things to come from this estate over the next several years.

Chateau Clerc Milon was ably managed by Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, who moved to Chateau Mouton Rothschild in time for the 2019 vintage. Under the direction of Jean Emmanuel Danjoy, Chateau Clerc Milon began making the best wines in the history of the estate.

Much of that success is due to their work in the vineyards, selection, and in picking riper fruit. According to Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, “At Clerc Milon, we look for complete phenolic ripeness when harvesting.

Ideally, that means, melting skins with no tannic astringency, good color extraction, and brown seeds. Luckily, that level of ripeness can be achieved in our climate with potential alcohol below 13.5% and with good acidity. Those qualities are important to us, especially since Cabernet Sauvignon is the backbone of Clerc Milon.”

On average, there is close to 16,000 cases of wine produced each year at Chateau Clerc Milon. There is a second wine, Pastourelle de Clerc Milon, which made its debut with the 2009 vintage.

When to Drink Chateau Clerc Milon, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Clerc Milon can be enjoyed on the young side with a few hours of air. But I find it so much better with cellaring. The wine is usually better at 8-12 years of bottle age.

Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. In the best vintages, the wine will be at its best level of peak maturity between 10-25 years of age after the vintage. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 2-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Serving Chateau Clerc Milon with Wine and Food Pairing Tips

Chateau Clerc Milon is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Clerc Milon is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Clerc Milon is also good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

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