Clos Manou

In the northern reaches of the Médoc peninsula, husband-and-wife team Stéphane and Françoise Dief own and run Clos Manou. Their first vintage in 1998 was just 600 bottles; they have built the estate up over time to reach 18 hectares, broken into 55 distinct plots. In her book Inside Bordeaux, Jane Anson calls Clos Manou “very much an insider’s wine, not widely known outside of a few loyal followers.”

The Clos Manou vineyard is notable for its low-trained vines planted at high density, with grasses growing in between vines. This is a hands-on operation; harvest is entirely manual.

In the cellar, the Diefs make use of a vast range of fermentation and ageing vessels: there are concrete eggs, terracotta amphoras, concrete tanks of varying sizes and oak barrels from nine different coopers. Stéphane and Françoise do everything themselves; there is no external consultant here. There is minimal intervention in the cellar, and very little added sulphur.

The Diefs farm Clos Manou following organic and biodynamic practices, though they have not sought certification. They plan to have HVE-3 certification from the 2021 vintage.