Chateau Monbousquet St. Emilion Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Monbousquet St. Emilion 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 Monbousquet History, Overview

Chateau Monbousquet is another St. Emilion estate with a long history in the appellation that can trace its history all the way back to 1540. At the time, Monbousquet belonged to François de Lescours, before it became the property of the well-established De Carles family.

In fact, Monbousquet remained in the hands of the de Carles family for almost 150 years. The beautiful, classically styled chateau was built in 1648 by Jacques de Geres. The chateau is now the private home of Gerard Perse and Chantal Perse along with the rest of the Perse family.

At the close of World War 2, the Querre family purchased Chateau Monbousquet. With their efforts, Chateau Monbousquet began making better wines.

Gerard Perse buys Monbousquet

In 1993, the Querre family sold Chateau Monbousquet to Gerard Perse and Chantal Perse for $9,000,000. Chateau Monbousquet was the first vineyard purchase by Gerard Perse. Little did he, or we know, it was not going to be his last purchase.

The first vintage of Chateau Monbousquet for Gerard Perse was the difficult 1997. I have never seen a bottle, but I have been told that at best, there were only 1 or 2 barrels produced out of the entire harvest! To keep that in perspective, that means somewhere between 300 and 600 bottles were made that year.

Shortly after Gerard Perse obtained Chateau Monbousquet, he began renovating the estate. The entire 32-hectare vineyard of Monbousquet was analyzed and drained. This limited rises in the water table during prolonged wet spells in future vintages.

Next, they completely rebuilt the winemaking facilities and cellars at Chateau Monbousquet. Gerard Perse also constructed an entirely new barrel-aging cellar for his Right Bank estate.

In February 2013, Gerard Perse sold a portion of Chateau Monbousquet to a large, anonymous, French, pension fund. The sale was motivated by French tax laws.

This allowed his daughter Angelique and her husband, Henrique Da Costa to eventually take over all the Perse-owned wineries which include Chateau Pavie, Chateau Bellevue Mondotte, and Chateau Pavie Decease. as well as their estates in the Cotes de Castillon appellation.

Chateau Monbousquet Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 32 hectare Monbousquet Saint Emilion vineyard is planted to 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. This shows a change in the vineyards since it was first purchased by Gerard Perse, with more Cabernet Franc and less Merlot in the vineyard.

The vines are planted to a density of 5,500 vines per hectare. The average age of the vines is 40 years. The terroir of sand, clay, and gravel soils is not the best in St. Emilion.

The vineyard can be divided into three sections. For the red wines, You find more sand and clay in the north and more gravel with sand in the south. However, Gerard Perse gets the most out of their terroir.

In part, intentionally striving for low yields is one method to increase concentration and improve quality. For example, in 2009, the yields were only 28 hectoliters per hectare.

To produce the wine of Chateau Monbousquet, vinification takes place in a combination of small, temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and French oak tanks. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels.

The wine of Chateau Monbousquet is aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for an average of 20 months. Nearly 6,000 cases of Monbousquet are produced each vintage. There is a second wine, Angelique de Monbousquet.

The Best vintages of Chateau Monbousquet are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2005, 2001, 2000 and 1998.

Chateau Monbousquet Blanc

Chateau Monbousquet also produces a dry white Bordeaux wine from 1 hectare of vines planted in sand, clay, and gravel soils. The section of the vineyard devoted to white wine grapes is planted to 65% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Semillon. The Semillon is young vines, as that grape variety was added later.

Chateau Monbousquet Blanc is fermented in stainless steel tanks, before aging in a combination of 38% new, French oak barrels, vats and used oak barrels. There is no malolactic fermentation or skin contact.

Starting with the 2018 vintage, the estate renamed the white wine to Monbousquet Blanc d’Exception. The production of the white wine is limited to not much more than 350 cases of Monbousquet Blanc d’Exception each year.

When to Drink Chateau Monbousquet, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Monbousquet is much better with at least 6-9 years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for 1-2 hours or more. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Monbousquet offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 8-20 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Monbousquet Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

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

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

Monbousquet Blanc is perfect when served with all types of seafood, shellfish, chicken, veal, pork and cheese.

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