The name of this château has two possible origins: either a neighbouring lieu-dit where the faithful celebrated the festival of Corpus Christi or a plot of land by this name where former owners once lived.
Gloria is one of the most recently-constituted of the great Médoc wine châteaux. It owes its existence to the life’s work of a cooper by the name of Henri Martin, who began by purchasing 6,000 vines in Saint-Julien in 1939. This was the beginning of a patchwork of vineyards acquired throughout the appellation. By the 1970s, Château Gloria had 47 hectares under vine, consisting entirely of plots once belonging to great growths. Of course, Gloria was not included in the 1855 classification because it did not yet exist!
Since Henri’s death in 1991, his daughter Françoise and her husband, Jean-Louis Triaud, have managed the estate.
The vineyards are located in three separate locations: the center of Beychevelle, and the western and northern parts of the appellation, bordering Paulliac.
The vines (with a density of 10,000 per hectare) grow on a gravel, clay, and sand soil. They are 30-80 years old, with an average age of 35. The choice of grape varieties – 65% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Cabernet-Franc, and 5% Petit-Verdot – accounts for Gloria's fine colour, flavor, power, and a certain tannic grip. The vines are Guyot double pruned, and have an average yield of 45 hl/ha.
Leaf thinning is practiced on one or both sides of the vine, depending on the vintage, to help aerate the bunches. The estate no longer carries out green harvesting, as this produces too much vigour. Gloria is increasing using sustainable agriculture techniques. Ninety percent of the plots are plowed, and chemical weedkillers are gradually being phased out.
Gloria underwent extensive modernisation in 1991. The winery was entirely renovated and equipped with a conveyor belt from the grape hopper, an ultra-modern destemmer that keeps the grapes whole, new glazed stainless steel temperature-controlled vats, and a system for concentrating the wine by evaporating it in a vacuum. A second aging cellar was built in 2000, bringing the total capacity up to 2,000 barrels. The wine is aged 45% in new oak barrels for 12 months, with racking every three months. The estate works with 7 coopers; who provide medium-toasted American and French oak barrels.
The gravely-sandy soil gives Château Gloria a charming, elegant, and aromatic style with a delicious, rich tannic texture.
