Wine had been produced on this land since 1608 and it is during the 1600s that the chateau as we know it came to be – sadly these origins are murky and details are scarce.
In 1697 the estate was bought by Simon Malescot, King’s Counsel to Louis XIV at the Parliament of Bordeaux. It is Malescot who gave his name to the property and it was his descendents that built a large house and numerous other outbuildings.
What followed was a division of the land between various Malescot descendents as well as intrusions by figures such as Comte Jean-Baptiste St. Exupery in 1827, who added his name to part of the former estate. In the 1855 classification it ranked as a third growth.
This regrettable division continued in various guises until a banker from Bordeaux named Fourcade snapped up all of the land before it was to be auctioned off due to the St. Expery family’s debts. Fourcade then set about bringing the neglected vineyards back into action through decades of hard work, not to mention heavy investment.
The vineyards expanded, the outbuildings were patched up and cellars were installed. Regrettably he did not live long to appreciate the full benefit of his hard work, dying in 1866. He was succeeded by a confederacy of owners who further improved the property further.
It was sold again 1901, a time when phylloxera was ravaging vineyards across France. The estate fell into the hands of Herr Lerbs from Bremen and in turn to the German company Seigneitz – as a consequence the French took control with the onset of the First World War.
By the time the next war arrived an Englishman named WH Chaplin took the reigns but left the estate to decline during and after the Second World War. The estate was finally rescued and its fortunes reversed when the Zuger family entered the scene, taking possession of a mere 7 hectares of vineyard.
They also purchased Alesme-Becker and have poured energy, money and devotion into both estates. The quality soared but the family was divided by Paul Zuger’s death – Malescot was willed to his son Roger, and then to the next generation Jean-Luc. The Zugers have bought up additional holdings, expanding the vineyards from the tiny hectares to a more respectable 23.5. In addition they have invested heavily into winemaking facilities.
The terroir consists of gravel up to ten metres deep with a lawyer of rock that consists of a nourishing blend of clay, chalk, mark and iron. The grape varietes planted are 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 percent Merlot, 10 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 35 years. Grand vin production averages at 13,500 cases a year.
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