Région 

Aquitaine - AOC Côtes de Duras

Grape Varieties: 

Red: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec.

White: Sauvignon, Muscadelle, Semillon and a small amount of Ugni Blanc.

Surface area: 10 hectares

Soil: Clay – Limestone and a poor soil known as ‘boulbène’

The vineyard has been densely replanted with 5000 plants per hectare.

Yield: 

30 hl/ha for the higher end of the range.

Age of the Vines:

5 ha of old vines (40 years old) 

5 ha of new plants (planted between 2002 and 2005)

Vineyard Management: 

Minimum spraying depending on weather.

Minimum use of chemicals.

Ploughing.

Manual bud-removal and de-suckering.

Manual crop-thinning and de-leafing.

Harvest: 

Manual crop-thinning before machine-harvesting. De-stemming. Some of the cuvées are manually harvested with the grapes transported to the chai in aerated boxes.

Particular attention is paid to harvesting dates.

Vinification 

Traditional methods.

Long periods of skin contact in concrete tanks.

Limited pumping over. Malolactic fermentation.

Use of wild yeasts.

Fining on the whites but rarely on the reds.

No filtering of the cuvées intended for aging.