I mentioned Chateau Chasse-Spleen in the entry about a tasting of the 2003 vintage of Cru Bourgeois Exceptionelle in 2009. I don't seem to have blogged about this Moulis chateau or its wines though. Having drunk the 2005 vintage at dinner over the weekend, it was time to write about them. The estate was in a list of 10 wineries in Bordeaux reckoned to be consistently good value (below Cru Classe) in an article in Decanter some years ago.
Long reckoned to be a leading estate of the commune of Moulis, the estate can be traced back to 1560, when it was called Ch Grand-Poujeaux. Half the estate became Ch Gressier-Grand-Poujeaux and the rest was divided into Chx Chasse-Spleen, Maucaillou and Poujeaux-Theil. The name (meaning to dispel the melancholy or blues) was thought to derive from Byron who in the 1820s visited the estate and liked the wines, saying "Quel remede pour chasser le spleen". Planted with 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot, the estate produces around 28,000 cases of its Grand Vin and 14,000 cases of a second wine variously known as L'Ermitage de Chasses Spleen or L'Oratoire de Chasses Spleen.
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