Le Dôme, 2009 St-Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux
Cab Franc du Jour #103
The history of Le Dôme begins in 1996 at the convergence of two stories. The first is that of Englishman Jonathan Maltus, who began his life as a vigneron in 1994 with the purchase of Château Teyssier in the commune of Vignonet in the St-Émilion appellation. The second is that of the Gouteyron family, owners of Vieux Château Mazerat, who had planted the lieu-dit of Languitey predominantly with Cabernet Franc in the 1950s. Upon the death of Francis Gouteyron, a 3.965-hectare portion of Vieux Château Mazerat came up for sale and was purchased by Jonathan Maltus in 1996.
With a keen eye for business and perhaps a degree of the chutzpah that comes with being an outsider in Bordeaux, Jonathan believed it was possible to make a world-class wine in St-Émilion without a château or centuries of history behind it. From these parcels, he set out to produce a small-production, single-vineyard, terroir-driven wine, and with the first vintage of Le Dôme in 1996, one of the purest expressions of Cabernet Franc from Bordeaux was born. In doing so, Jonathan became one of the pioneers of the garagiste movement that emerged on Bordeaux’s right bank in the mid-1990s.
Cabernet Franc in St-Émilion
For those who have followed this project over time, you may have noticed a relative absence of Bordeaux content. The reason is straightforward: while Cabernet Franc is undeniably important in the region, it generally plays a supporting role, with its offspring Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot taking centre stage. On the right bank, where Cabernet Franc is most at home, most notably in St-Émilion and to a lesser extent Pomerol, Cabernet Franc-dominant wines are rarer than one might expect. Even the celebrated Château Cheval Blanc, often regarded as the defining expression of “Cabernet Franc” from Bordeaux, has only had Cabernet Franc exceed 50% of the blend five times across the last 20 vintages.
There are likely several reasons for this, but two stand out. First, Cabernet Franc is not as widely planted in St-Émilion as one might assume. Across the appellations of St-Émilion and St-Émilion Grand Cru, there are 5,450ha under vine, of which 953ha are Cabernet Franc, representing just 18% of the vineyard area, with Merlot dominating the rest. Second, and perhaps more importantly, comes down to soils. Cabernet Franc is a notoriously site-sensitive variety, and given the complexity of the terroir across the appellation, the sites where it truly excels are not as widespread as one might imagine.
The Terroir of St-Émilion
The appellation of St-Émilion encompasses nine communes in the Libournais, bordered to the south by the Dordogne River and to the north by the Barbanne River, spanning roughly 12km from east to west and 9km from north to south.
At the heart of the appellation, the commune of St-Émilion and its picturesque village sit atop a limestone plateau, but this plateau represents only part of the broader terroir picture.
Four broad soil groups define the appellation. The first is the famous plateau of calcaire à astéries, an Oligocene-era limestone stretching from St-Émilion eastward across five communes to the village of Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, where the highest concentration of Premier Grand Cru Classé châteaux, including Château Ausone, are found.
The second group is the higher slopes descending from the plateau, with calcareous-clay soils over a soft limestone bedrock known locally as the molasse du Fronsadais. On the lower slopes, the third group, we find either sandy-loams or clay-loams above that same molasse bedrock.
Finally, a series of wide Quaternary terraces step gradually down from the limestone plateau toward the Dordogne to the south and the Barbanne to the north. The first and highest of these terraces, at elevations of 30 to 35m above sea level, is composed of complex gravels and sands and follows the western and northern perimeters of the limestone plateau. Lower terraces at 4 to 20m above sea level to the south of the plateau are made up of more recent Dordogne alluvial deposits.
While these Quaternary terraces might at first appear inferior to the vineyards on the plateau and slopes, some of Bordeaux’s most prestigious properties are located on the higher terrace, including Château Cheval Blanc and Château Angélus, and a notable commonality among these estates is a somewhat greater emphasis on Cabernet Franc in their blends.
The Vineyard
Le Dôme is sourced from this single 3.965-hectare site, with approximately 3ha of Cabernet Franc and the remainder Merlot. The parcels sit on that first Quaternary terrace on a gentle southwest-facing slope at around 30 to 35m above sea level, just 500m west of Château Angélus. Looking at the underlying geology, the parcels of Le Dôme follow the same narrow vein of soils that winds north-northwest through the parcels of Château Cheval Blanc and continues into Pomerol.
The soil profile consists of a shallow clayey-sand, known locally as sablo-argileux, to a depth of around 40cm, over a deep subsoil of clay with layers of iron-rich rock called crasse de fer. The balance between this topsoil and subsoil provides a good equilibrium between drainage and moisture retention. The parcels were planted by the Gouteyron family in the mid-1950s, and since Jonathan Maltus acquired them in 1996 he has changed nothing about how the vineyard was originally planted and laid out.
In the Cellar
Attention to detail at harvest and in the cellar is considerable. Yields are kept low at around 28 hl/ha. The fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed, then sorted by hand three times: once before destemming and twice at the berry level. Tanks are filled by gravity to preserve the integrity of the individual berries, which then undergo a five-day cold soak prior to alcoholic fermentation. In 2009, fermentation took place in temperature-controlled oak vats with a total skin contact of approximately 35 days, with regular pigéage and pump-overs throughout to aid extraction. Maturation took place for 18 months in French oak barriques, 80% of which was new.
Wine Details
Producer: Le Dôme (JCP Maltus Vigneron & Winemaker)
Appellation: St-Emilion Grand Cru
Commune: St-Emilion
Lieux-Dits: Languitey
Assemblage: 80% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot
Soils: 40cm of clayey-sand (sablo-argileux), deep clay subsoil layered with crasse de fer (a type of iron-rich rock)
Alcohol: 14.5%