Chateau La Prade Cotes de Francs Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau La Prade Cotes de Francs 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 and terroir. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Nicolas Thienpont acquired Chateau La Prade from Thierry Valette in 2000. If the Valette name sounds familiar to you, it should, as the Valette family were the long-time owners of Chateau Troplong Mondot in St. Emilion. Chateau La Prade, located in the Cotes de Francs appellation. The Cotes de Francs, at 450 hectares is the smallest of the recognized Bordeaux appellations.

Chateau La Prade Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 6-hectare vineyard of La Prade is planted to 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard has a unique terroir riddled with shells of small marine invertebrates that are known as ‘astéries’ in French.

The asteries limestone found in their terroir is the hardest type of limestone and is often used for building, especially in Saint Emilion, because of its durability and beauty.

Half of the La Prade vineyard is made of that type of limestone, coupled with various different types of clay and iron soils. The asteries limestone found in their vineyard is well placed on the plateau of Cotes de Francs. The remaining portion of the La Prade vineyard is set on the hillsides and slopes.

The south-facing slopes are filled with black mica and iron that give the wine that important sense of minerality. The vines are planted to a density of 6,500 vines per hectare. The vineyard is progressively replanted at higher densities.

In fact, Nicolas Thienpont has increased the vine density from 5,500 to 6,500 vines per hectare over the past decade. The vines here are old. On average, they are 40 years of age! Debudding, deleafing, and crop-thinning are all practiced as is mostly organic farming sustainable viticulture. When you think about it, that is a lot of work for a value-priced, Bordeaux wine.

To produce the wine of Chateau La Prade, the grapes are whole berry fermented in traditional cement tanks with regular punching down of the cap. Malolactic fermentation is performed in the barrel.

The wine is aged on its lees for the first six months of the aging, but without stirring to increase the color and depth in the wine. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of how much effort is put into the search for quality in these wines at this Right Bank estate.

The wine of Chateau La Prade is aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for about 15 months before bottling.

The best vintages of Chateau La Prade are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009 and 2005.

When to Drink Chateau La Prade, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau La Prade is better with at least 2-3 years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for up to 1 hour, helping the wine soften to help develop the aromatic character. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau La Prade offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 2-9 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau La Prade with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

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

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

Nicolas Thienpont also owns Chateau Puygueraud and Chateau Les Charmes Godard, both of which are also located in the Cotes de Bordeaux appellation. Chateau Les Charmes Godard is better known for its white Bordeaux wine, made from a blend of 70% Semillon, 15% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Muscadelle.

Chateau La Prade is a contender for one of the top wines from the Cotes de Francs appellation. The wine of La Prade offers good character coupled with the ability to age and evolve for a fair price. That’s a perfect combination for Bordeaux wine and consumers seeking value-priced wines.

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