Listrac or Listrac-Médoc, one of the six communal appellations of the Haut-Médoc district of Bordeaux. In relation to the other five (margaux, st-julien, pauillac, st-estèphe, and even moulis, with which it is often compared), Listrac seems the least well favoured. It is, just, the furthest of them all from the Gironde estuary and the vineyards are planted on 540 ha/1,334 acres in 2013 of mainly clay-limestone on a gentle rise which, at an elevation of about 40 m/131 ft, constitutes some of the highest land in the Médoc. Although the Merlot grape is increasingly planted, the wines can be relatively austere in youth. The most cosseted property is probably the late Baron Edmond de rothschild’s Ch Clarke, given extra ballast by oenologist Michel rolland, although Ch Fonréaud is generally reliable. Yields of 45 hl/ha (2.6 tons/acre) are officially tolerated here, whereas the limit is 40 hl/ha in Moulis and other Haut-Médoc village appellations.
