Chateau Taillefer Pomerol Bordeaux, Complete Guide

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

Chateau Taillefer History, Overview

Chateau Taillefer is the first major estate you see as you enter Pomerol from the west, or while you exit the highway on the A89 from the direction of Catusseau. Chateau Taillefer is also one of the oldest properties in the Pomerol appellation dating back to at least 1785.

The chateau was built in the early 1800s. Chateau Taillefer is historic for another reason, it is the first property purchased by the Moueix dynasty. Antoine Moueix bought the estate in 1923.

Chateau Taillefer remains in the Moueix family’s hands today. Interestingly, at the time of the purchase, due to its sandy soils, the vineyard was not known to possess the best terroir in Pomerol. But it had one advantage the other estates in the region did not have.

Chateau Taillefer was located close to the business center of Libourne, which made it easy to transport the wine by train to various locations and get the wine into different markets.

Chateau Taillefer Vineyard, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking
The 12-hectare, Right Bank vineyard of Chateau Taillefer is planted to 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. This represents a continuing change in the vineyard as Chateau Taillefer has over the years removed the substantial amount of Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyard while continuing to increase the Merlot. This process is being done slowly, to maintain the average vine age at close to 30 years of age.

The terroir is sand and gravel with deposits of iron in the soils. In fact, the iron in the soil is where the estate found the inspiration for its name, as Taillefer comes from the phrase to cut iron, which is a reference to the iron in the terroir. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,000 vines per hectare.

Most of the vineyard is located close to the chateau with sand and gravel soils. But they also have vines planted in gravel soils that are well placed, not too far from Chateau Figeac in St. Emilion.

To produce the wine of Chateau Taillefer, vinification takes place in temperature, controlled, traditional concrete vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of cement vats and French oak barrels. The wine is aged in 33% new, French oak barrels for about 15 months. On average, 4,000 cases a year are produced of Chateau Taillefer. There is a second wine, Chateau Fontmarty.

The best vintages of Chateau Taillefer are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009 and 2005. It is important to note that starting with the 2018 vintage, the wine made at Chateau Taillefer has made a big jump in quality.

When to Drink Chateau Taillefer, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Taillefer can be enjoyed on the young side with an hour of decanting. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. However, I find the wine is usually better with 3-6 years of bottle age.

Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. In the best years, the wine will best between 4 to 12 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Taillefer with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

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

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