Biography

Charlotte Krajewski has wine running through her veins as her father, Martin was the former owner of Château de Sours in Bordeaux. Charlotte has travelled the globe and trained in South Africa (Groot Constancia), New Zealand (Mudhouse, Trinity Hill and Elephant Hill), Australia (Tyrell’s) as well as back in Bordeaux. She brings a wealth of winemaking experience to the family properties of Clos Cantenac in St. Émilion and Château Séraphine in Pomerol. In recent years, Charlotte has received rave reviews from top critics such as Jane Anson, Neal Martin and Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW.

Q & A

How did you get started in the wine trade?

After finishing my A-Levels I decided to come out to France and work the harvest at Château de Sours picking grapes to earn a little bit of money for my gap year. It was then that for the first time I really took an interest in winemaking. I already had a passion for wine, yet never knew or understood just how complex and technical the whole process from vine to bottle really was. I then changed my plans and headed to South Africa to work another harvest but this time in the cellar and immediately fell in love with the whole process, that’s when I knew that this was something I really wanted to do. 

Can you describe your vineyards?

We have 6-hectares of Saint-Émilion Grand Cru across 6 different vineyard sites. The soil is mainly Alluvium which is a combination of loose clay, silt, sand, and gravel. Each vineyard has a different percentage make-up giving the wines from each parcel an individuality as they perform differently in each growing season. We also have 2-hectares on a limestone plateau in the Entre-Deux-Mers from which we take the fruit for the rosé and white wines.

What is one of your favourite varietals to work with, and why?

At Clos Cantenac our vineyards are planted with roughly 80% merlot, based on this fact I would have to say Merlot as my answer…. I do love working with this variety, across the two properties we make five Merlot based red wines, and two 100% Merlot rosé wines. The fact that each wine is so different really shows how versatile the variety can be. I also dream of making Chardonnay one day in Bordeaux!

Who has influenced your winemaking style the most?

I look at a lot of the great Bordeaux wines for influence, especially those from Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. I also spent a long time working in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Although the wines are quite different, I still use a lot of their winemaking philosophy and techniques which to a certain extent I think can be seen in some of the wines that I make today. 

What has surprised you about being a winemaker?

How much I am still learning. Every year is so different and with every new year you are faced with new challenges, this means you must constantly be ready to adapt and learn along the way.

If you could make wine anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

Possibly Margaret River (Australia) as I love the region and the wines that come from it, or Hawkes Bay (New Zealand) where I lived for 6 years. It is a beautiful region with beautiful wines and people.

If you had to recommend just one of your wines to a customer, which would it be, and why?

L'exuberance rosé - mainly because a lot of people shy away from Bordeaux rosés preferring to drink Provence. I hope that once they have tried it, they will see that not only can it compete with Provence… it might actually be better!

What is your favourite wine, and who would you share it with?

I love the wines form Château La Conseillante; they are constantly great wines and I would be happy to share a bottle with anyone who loves Pomerol wines as much as I do…

What is your favourite restaurant, and why?

I am always keen to try new restaurants, so anywhere with good food and a great wine list I’d be more than happy!