Tertre Rôteboeuf has been a family affair for a few generations. It started when the estate was known as Le Tertre. The traditional farmhouse on the estate was constructed in the early 18th century, about 1730, give or take. Jumping ahead, the modern era for Tertre Rôteboeuf starts when it was it was owned by François Mitjavile's future father-in-law. In 1961, after he passed away, it was next inherited by his daughter Miloute. She and her cousins came to an agreement. She owned the vineyards. They had the time and the knowledge as they were already established producers in Saint-Émilion. Her cousins were experienced as they already owned Château Bellefont Belcier where the wine of Le Tertre was being produced. And so, a partnership was formed which gave birth to what we know of as Tertre Rôteboeuf today.

Wanting to learn about Bordeaux wine making, François Mitjavile started his wine career at another Saint-Émilion estate, Château-Figeac. This was back in 1975. Two short years later he returned to Le Tertre. At that time he decided to change the name of the property. He did this by giving the wine a second name. He added the word Rôteboeuf to Le Terte and Le Tertre Rôteboeuf was born. The logic behind this was to separate the estate from the numerous Right Bank châteaux already using the word Tertre in their name. His plan was to make the name of the château stand out. And it did! The name, Le Tertre Rôteboeuf which is loosely translated into "Hill of the belching beef," pays homage to a time when the property was probably used for cattle grazing.

The first vintage of Le Tertre Rôteboeuf produced by François Mitjavile was the 1978. While the estate is not what you would call modern, some of the first changes made by François Mitjavile was to begin the practice of using a portion of new, French oak to age the wine. Prior to François Mitjavile taking over Tertre Rôteboeuf, the wines were never aged in new oak barrels. That changed starting with the 1985 vintage when the wines were aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for the first time. In a few years, the wine of Tertre Rôteboeuf would be aged in 100% new French oak barrels, a practice they continue using today. Next, François Mitjavile began harvesting later, picking riper fruit and reducing the yields. He soon began moving to using organic, sustainable, vineyard farming techniques. It took only a few years until Tertre Rôteboeuf became known as one of the top wines of the Saint-Émilion appellation. The turnaround began with the 1989 vintage. Since 1989, Tertre Rôteboeuf has maintained their status as one of the best wines from Saint-Émilion.

"Stunning, expressive ripeness - has a quality of fruit that just can't be faked. Long, elegant, fragrant nose. Sensitive oak character - opulent and luxurious but never excessive. Very firm tannin - deserve loads of time. Handles the high alcohol ably. 18.5 / 20 Points."
(Richard Hemming, JR Purple Pages.com, November 2014)