On September 24th, we were a dozen members to meet at Château Siran in the commune of Labarde, one of the five communes of the Margaux appellation.

Since 1859, the family of our host, Edouard Miailhe, has owned this château, which was purchased by Alphonse Toulouse Lautrec, father of the famous painter. This 82 hectare property has 36 hectare of vines with the Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot grape varieties. 95% of the annual production of the 120,000 bottles is sold ‘en primeur’ to 52 traders.

Edouard’s father had the front labels drawn by a contemporary artist: a different design each year. Edouard has resumed this tradition with the 2020 vintage. A room is dedicated to the collection of these drawings.

We met Marjolaine, cellar master, who was very busy with the pumping over of the new wine. Our visit took in the cellar with its three rooms containing 500 barrels, the charterhouse, and the owner’s home. We then admired the collection in the old cellar, which brings together around 300 objects from a passion shared for many years in the Miailhe family around art and wine. This collection invites you on a journey through time from the third century BC to the 19th century.

A tasting of three wines produced by the château awaited us: the Saint Jacques de Siran, the S de Siran previously called Château Bellegrave and finally the flagship wine of the property, Château Siran. This last wine was ranked first in the Top 100 of the best wines of the year by Wine Enthusiast!

The Irish Room had been set up for the lunch prepared by Philippe Téchoire. This room traces the origins of the Miailhe family and you can see on the walls the various portraits of their ancestors.

After an aperitif of toasts accompanied by Champagne Gonet 2014, we had a salad of duck confit flavoured with thyme and served with Château Siran 2018 (absolutely superb, even if this cru is still young). The main course was maigre on pureed potatoes and chanterelles, deliciously cooked by Chef Philippe who is a great fish specialist. A Château Siran 1993 was served with this dish. To finish, we had a pear in red wine with vanilla fondant, served with a sublime Château Siran 1986, considered the best Margaux of the year.

We ended our stay at Château Siran with a visit to the strongroom, defended by a huge door, and in which there are around 20,000 bottles from the château, the oldest of which date from 1912.

It was, as usual, a very nice visit, in a friendly atmosphere, allowing us to discover the life of a wine through the passion of its owner, Edouard Miailhe. Many thanks to Edouard for his sharing and generosity.

Georges Groslière
Chevalier

Château Siran
Margaux
33460 Labarde Margaux
www.chateausiran.com
Phone: +33 5 57 88 34 04