Château Clerc Milon is a Cinquièmes Cru Classé in Pauillac, named (like neighbour Duhart-Milon) after the village of Milon in Pauillac and its owner at the time of the 1855 Classification, Jean-Baptiste Clerc. The estate was purchased in 1970 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and benefits from the winemaking expertise of the team at Mouton-Rothschild. Clerc Milon is usually a clear step up from sibling property d'Armaihac and seems to us to capture more of the nuances and complexity of the First Growth.
A new winery was built in 2011 (the estate does not possess a Château). The 41 hectares of vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (37%), Cabernet Franc (10%), Petit Verdot (2%) and Carmenere (1%). The average age of the vines is 53 years. Mostly planted before the development of clonal selection, the vines may lack the precise properties of more modern plantings, but they are rich in genetic material. The vine density ranges between 8,500 and 10,000 vines per hectare, very similar to Mouton.