Cabernet Franc

Syrah

The Grape varieties of the estate:

Currently, 70% of the vines have been renewed with high quality grape varieties. There are:

5 hectares of Sauvignon blanc
5 hectares of Merlot
3 hectares of Syrah
2 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon
6 hectares of Cabernet Franc
3 hectares of Terret-Bourret
3 hectares of Carignan
1 hectares of Tempranille

Apart from the Carignan and the Terret, the vines are all connected by wires with the trellising at a height of 1m60 allowing for the ideal spread between the vines and exposure to the sun.

The means of cutting is called Guyot, after the person who invented it. Because of concern about modern techniques and respect for the environment, we rely entirely on manual labour to keep the vines clean and the soil loose, rather than the whole scale use of herbicides. We never use chemical fertilisers. We endeavour to fight against parasites and we control the yield by the way in which we select the vines, their size and the timing of the harvest.

MERLOT

We have been using Merlot grapes since the second half of the 19th century. This variety of grape existed in the Medoc vineyards and was greatly appreciated for its fine taste.

The vine-trunk is very hardy, the bunches and pips are of average size and the skin is rather thick.

 

 

CABERNET

We know from a reliable source that Cabernet existed at the time of Cardinal de Richelieu and was planted extensively in the Bordeaux region.


The Cabernet Sauvignan was discovered later, in the 19th century.

Cabernet Sauvignan is known for its ability to produce a strong, deeply coloured wine suitable to ageing. The vine trunks are narrow, the bunches are more long than wide and the pips are small and round.

Cabernet Franc is recognised as being less solid than Sauvignon. The vine-trunks are hardy, the bunches are small and the grapes contain small pips.


SAUVIGNON


It seems impossible to trace the origins of Sauvignon. The Abbé Belle manuscripts (1736) indicate the presence of Sauvignon in Bordeaux. Some plantations of Sauvignon can be found in Bourges and Chateroux as well as Alsace.

It gives a very fine full-bodied wine with a beautiful golden colour and a very special aroma. It has hardy vine-trunks and small short bunches of grapes which contain tightly packed pips of various sizes.



SYRAH

The exact origin of this plant is not known. Some believe that it originated in the Schiraz region of Faristan in Persia, whilst others believe that it comes from Syracuse. It is known however that this variety has existed in the northern parts of the Côte du Rhone for a very long time. Recently it can be found in nearly all the vineyards.

It can produce red, rosé, or be converted into rosé. It has a very fruity aroma, the vine-trunks are quite hardy and the bunches are long and the pips of average size.