Why it matters
The producer
Mitjavile began his winemaking career at Château Figeac in 1975, apprenticed under Thierry Manoncourt, and carried that training into his own estate. For the inaugural vintage in 1977, he renamed the property Tertre Roteboeuf. The change turned a property name into a bottle name, with the vineyard, the blend, and his cellar decisions gathered under one label.
His work is built around ripe grapes and low yields. Merlot supplies 80% of the planting, while Cabernet Franc makes up the remaining 20%, including vines that can approach 50 years of age. The wine carries the imprint of a small hillside vineyard and a producer who prefers to let ripeness develop in the vineyard before shaping the wine in the cellar.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Tertre Roteboeuf sits in southeastern Saint-Émilion, where a hillside vineyard places limestone, clay, and drainage beneath mature Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The location guides the bottle toward a ripe, concentrated Bordeaux style, while the Cabernet Franc share adds a second grape to the estate's central red blend.
The label name Tertre Roteboeuf refers to the estate Mitjavile renamed in 1977. It is the named wine at the centre of the range, with place, grape varieties, and cellar method closely tied together.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Mitjavile starts with late harvesting, allowing the grapes to reach full ripeness and develop more concentrated flavours. Low yields reduce the amount of fruit carried by each vine, concentrating the harvest before it reaches the cellar.
The grapes ferment in temperature-controlled concrete tanks. Concrete provides a stable vessel while temperature control keeps fermentation within a managed range. The wine then spends 18 months in 100% new French oak, placing oak firmly beside the ripe fruit of the late harvest.
Wines to know
The range in view
Tertre Roteboeuf is the principal documented wine, a red blend led by Merlot with 20% Cabernet Franc. Its range position is clear: this is the estate where the hillside vineyard, mature vines, late picking, concrete fermentation, new oak, and oxidative ageing appear together. The wine's material vocabulary is ripe fruit, concentration, acidity, tannin, and oak, with each element tied to a grape or cellar decision.
Roc de Cambes belongs to the wider Mitjavile estate group and adds another named Bordeaux wine to the family story.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Tertre Roteboeuf. It is the estate's named wine from southeastern Saint-Émilion, built from 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc grown on limestone and clay. Late harvesting brings ripe, concentrated fruit; concrete fermentation keeps the cellar vessel neutral and controlled; 18 months in new French oak adds a marked oak frame; oxidative ageing brings the wine to a stable stage before bottling.