Château Villemaurine

The history of the estate

The origins of Villemaurine date back to the 7th century when the Moors established an entrenched camp on this site called Ville Maure. It will then be very quickly called Villemaurine.

The property passed through several hands and Jean Combret de Faurie transformed the estate into a vineyard in the 18th century, shortly before the Revolution. Indeed, considering that the land would not enhance other crops, he will install vines.

In 1874, Villemaurine is mentioned as "Premier Cru Saint Emilion", the domain is then shared between three owners. Raoul Passemard would later buy back the three properties to give the estate its unity. He also enhances the production of the Château and its wines receive multiple awards. The vineyard then became one of the best First Growths of Saint-Emilion.

The producer and his know-how

Justin Onclin already owned a vineyard, Château Branas Grand Poujeaux, when he purchased Château Villemaurine in 2005. Passionate about viticulture, he wanted to expand his family estate and he wanted to make his own wines. He immediately saw the potential of the estate. He produced his first Château Villemaurine vintage in 2007.

The work in the vineyard is carried out with great rigor, respecting the terroir, the people and the vines, with tailor-made practices for each parcel and the best technical tools available. Justin Onclin's ambition is to give back to this classified growth all its prestige and to produce exceptional wines each vintage.

Thus, traditional know-how is used in complementarity with natural methods of reasoned agriculture and promising innovations. Planting cereals in winter maintains and promotes the life of the subsoil, as does the use of plowing and the refusal to use weed killers.

Two grape varieties make up the vineyard: 20% Cabernet Franc and 80% Merlot. The yields are determined foot by foot, the monitoring of the sanitary state of the vine is meticulous and all customary work is done by hand.

The vat house is a blend of state-of-the-art technology, aesthetics and tradition. With small, double-walled stainless steel tanks, temperatures are stable. They also allow for intra-cellular selections and slow, gentle extraction to preserve the elegance of the wine.

The estate also has a first barrel cellar with a dry atmosphere and a monolithic cellar in the old quarries under the castle. The maturing is thus done in ideal conditions.

The wines

Chateau Villemaurine is a Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion, the signature vintage of Chateau Villemaurine. The 2020 vintage is an excellent vintage, with a beautiful aromatic expression and notes of black fruits. It is a well-balanced, round and silky wine with a deep color.

Les Angelots de Villemaurine is the second wine of the vineyard. It is made from a selection of specific terroirs of the estate. It is a harmonious wine, at once fine, greedy and elegant with red fruit aromas. It benefits from being aged a little before tasting, ideally between 2 and 5 years.