Château Mangot

People are at last beginning to talk about this 37-hectare Saint-Émilion property, but the Todeschini brothers have been at the forefront of more sustainable farming in Bordeaux for over a decade. Located in one large block around the winery, fully 15% of the estate’s surface is maintained as hedges, woodland and truffle oaks instead of being planted to vines. Back in 2008, they began sowing leguminous cover crops, a practice that’s now widespread across the region. And first organic and then biodynamic certification have followed, in 2020 and 2023, respectively. This innovative approach is matched in the winery, delivering wines of striking energy and purity of fruit that only seem to go from strength to strength from one vintage to the next.

This dynamic 37-hectare estate is located in Saint Étienne de Lisse on clay-limestone soils. Château Mangot’s vineyards occupy a single block, ranging from the plateau above the château to the lower plateau below, with slopes and terraces in between. Cover crops are retained year-round, and vinification is parcel by parcel to produce the best components to inform the optimal assemblage. Today, the estate is planted with fully 75% Merlot, but that's tending to decline at the expense of Cabernet Franc, little by little, as blocks are replanted. In the winery, long but gentle macerations deliver deep but supple wines that see maturation before bottling that combines traditional Bordealais barriques (225-liter oak barrels) with less oxidative vessels such as amphorae, of which Mangot was a pioneer, permitting bottling stable wines with low levels of total sulfites. The style emphasizes precision and purity of fruit without any obtrusive winemaking signatures. On a qualitative roll, Mangot produces one of the best values in contemporary Bordeaux.