Château Tertre Daugay

Château Tertre Daugay stands on a promontory, or 'tertre', with far-reaching views over the Dordogne valley. In the Middle Ages the hill site served as a 'tertre du guet', or lookout mound, and the château owes its name to it. In the 19th century the estate was referenced in several works as producing some of the most sought-after and expensive wines in the appellation, and it won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867. In Domaine Clarence Dillon's statement on the renaming, Tertre Daugay 'was featured between 1844 and 1848 among the 14 most sought-after and most expensive wines of Saint-Emilion.' One 19th-century book, Les Grands Vins de Gironde by François Guillaume and Charles Lallemand, wrote of the estate: 'One can not imagine a more beautiful situation for an estate, or one more favourable for the production of a first growth wine.' During the 1900s the estate fell into neglect, and it was sold at auction to Count Léo de Malet-Roquefort in 1978. Before its sale in 2011 the estate was run by his son Alexandre de Malet-Roquefort, with Stéphane Derenoncourt as consultant.

• Middle Ages: the hill site served as a 'tertre du guet', or lookout mound, the source of the estate's name.
• 1867: gold medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris.
• 1978: sold at auction to Count Léo de Malet-Roquefort after the estate fell into neglect during the 1900s.
• Before 2011: run by Alexandre de Malet-Roquefort, with Stéphane Derenoncourt as consultant.

Domaine Clarence Dillon, owner of Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, acquired Château Tertre Daugay in June 2011 and renamed it Quintus. The new name marks the estate's wine as the fifth in the Clarence Dillon stable, after the reds and whites of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, and refers to the Romans who planted the first vines in the region and often called their fifth child Quintus. Quintus is Latin for 'the fifth'. The 2011 vintage was the first Quintus vintage. A US federal trademark registration for Château Quintus was filed on 16 November 2011, and one for Le Dragon de Quintus on the same day. Prince Robert of Luxembourg designed a bottle specifically for Château Quintus, inspired by Château Haut-Brion's antique bottles dating from the mid-19th century, with an embossed seal on the neck.

• June 2011: acquired by Domaine Clarence Dillon.
• Renamed Quintus as the fifth wine of the Clarence Dillon stable; Quintus is Latin for 'the fifth'.
• 2011: the first Quintus vintage.
• A bottle designed by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, inspired by Château Haut-Brion's mid-19th-century bottles.

Tertre Daugay was a Grand Cru Classé of Saint-Émilion. It was demoted in the 2006 Saint-Émilion classification and reinstated in 2010. Quintus was not classified under its own name but under its former title of Tertre Daugay, which survived until early 2012. Because of the name change, Quintus was not submitted for the 2012 ranking. Domaine Clarence Dillon lists Château Quintus as a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.

• 2006: demoted in the Saint-Émilion classification; reinstated in 2010.
• 2012: Quintus was not submitted for the ranking, because of the name change.
• Listed by Domaine Clarence Dillon as a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.

In 2013 Domaine Clarence Dillon bought the neighbouring Château L'Arrosée through its wholly owned subsidiary Quintus SAS, from Jean-Philippe Caille; the deal closed on 29 May 2013. The two estates were merged under the Château Quintus name, yielding a vineyard of 28 hectares. In 2021 a third Saint-Émilion property, Château Grand-Pontet, was added; it is not contiguous with Quintus. The three properties now form an estate of 45 hectares.

• 2013: Château L'Arrosée acquired and merged under the Quintus name, for a vineyard of 28 hectares.
• 2021: Château Grand-Pontet added, a non-contiguous property.
• The three properties now total 45 hectares.

Quintus sits on a limestone promontory culminating at an altitude of 62 metres, with a 360-degree view across the Dordogne valley. Its plateau has north, west and south-facing positions. Before the acquisition, Tertre Daugay covered 16 hectares of clay-limestone, planted to 60% Merlot Noir and 40% Cabernet Franc. Quintus today draws on a mosaic of terroirs with varied exposures and limestone, clay and clay-limestone soils. A bronze dragon statue by Mark Coreth, with a six-meter wingspan, stands on the promontory where a watchtower once stood to guard the property. The estate's natural gardens and terraces cover two hectares, and Quintus holds High Environmental Value (HEV) certification since 2018 and ISO 14001 certification since 2019.

• Limestone promontory culminating at 62 metres, with north, west and south-facing positions.
• Tertre Daugay before 2011: 16 hectares of clay-limestone, 60% Merlot Noir and 40% Cabernet Franc.
• Bronze dragon statue by Mark Coreth on the site of the former watchtower.
• HEV certification since 2018; ISO 14001 since 2019.

Domaine Clarence Dillon is a family company managed by the fourth generation of a dynasty founded in 1935 by Clarence Dillon; Prince Robert of Luxembourg is chairman. Mariette Veyssière is manager of Château Quintus, Claude Diligeart is cellar master and Pauline Comin is vineyard manager. Mariette Veyssière joined Quintus at the end of 2013, after working at Château Haut-Brion, Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Pétrus and Château Latour and in California. Claude Diligeart started work in 1990 at one of the properties that would ultimately form Quintus. Pauline Comin joined Quintus in June 2023 as a vineyard and wine assistant and was later promoted to vineyard manager.

• Owner: Domaine Clarence Dillon; chairman, Prince Robert of Luxembourg.
• Mariette Veyssière, manager (joined at the end of 2013); Claude Diligeart, cellar master (at one of the founding properties since 1990); Pauline Comin, vineyard manager (joined June 2023).

The harvest is picked by hand, with selection within each plot. Plots are harvested and vinified separately at the top, the middle and the foot of the slopes, and each vat is tasted blind. Winemaking is done in wooden and stainless steel vats, with gentle extraction by pumping over. After blending, the wine matures in French oak barrels for twelve to eighteen months. Each of the three wines of the property is made in its own vat house.

• Hand harvest with intra-plot selection; plots split at the top, middle and foot of the slopes.
• Wooden and stainless steel vats; gentle extraction by pumping over; vats tasted blind.
• Twelve to eighteen months in French oak barrels.

The estate makes three wines: Château Quintus, Le Dragon de Quintus and Saint-Émilion de Quintus. The estate lists Château Quintus and Le Dragon de Quintus vintages from 2011 and Saint-Émilion de Quintus vintages from 2014. Le Dragon de Quintus takes its name from the dragon statue on the promontory. The 2011 Château Quintus was a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, with 40% new barrels; the 2023 was 78.3% Merlot and 21.7% Cabernet Franc, with 38.1% new barrels. In Jancis Robinson's account of a blind tasting organised by Domaine Clarence Dillon in London on 31 May 2022, Quintus placed fourth of six on average for all tasters against Cheval Blanc, Figeac, Ausone, Pavie and Angélus across the 2011 to 2018 vintages, performing particularly well in 2015, when it was second only to Ausone.

• Château Quintus: first vintage 2011 (50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc); 2023 at 78.3% Merlot and 21.7% Cabernet Franc.
• Le Dragon de Quintus: named after the estate's dragon statue; vintages listed from 2011.
• Saint-Émilion de Quintus: vintages listed from 2014.
• Placed fourth of six on average in Jancis Robinson's account of a 2022 blind tasting of the 2011 to 2018 vintages against five leading Saint-Émilion estates.

In the estate's own words, Château Quintus is 'a wine of balance and elevation', in which 'the balance between Merlot and Cabernet Franc is expressed with precision, supported by purity of fruit, subtle minerality and a silky mouthfeel.' Le Dragon de Quintus, in the estate's words, offers 'an expression driven by vibrant fruit, freshness and finesse' and is 'accessible in its youth'.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-chateau/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/know-how/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-wines/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/biodiversity/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-wines/chateau-quintus/chateau-quintus-2011/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-wines/chateau-quintus/chateau-quintus-2023/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-wines/dragon-de-quintus/dragon-de-quintus-2011/. Parent group site: https://www.domaineclarencedillon.com/en/the-group/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Jane Anson, last updated 26 and 27 May 2015; Decanter Staff, last updated 28 May 2015), Wine Spectator (James Molesworth, 6 June 2013), The Drinks Business (Rupert Millar, 6 February 2012; James Lawrence, 6 August 2021) and Jancis Robinson (2022). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.