Crafts

Between ‘art’ craftsmanship and aesthetic quest

“The tradition of maintaining the fire and not venerating the ashes.”

R. Wagner

The soil is where it all begins, in the making of a great terroir wine.

Our family’s history with Pomerol and its terroirs is a long-term one. This environment has been our home for over half a millennium. Our vineyard soils have always been respected, worked mechanically or grassed over without the use of synthetic products.

Pomerol’s terroirs are among the most demanding in the world.

Only deep-rooted vines allow the Merlot and Cabernet Franc varieties to express their place of origin in the structure and aromas of the wines they produce.

For the Merlot grape variety, the Pomerol terroir – ancient ruby gravel with a subsoil of blue clay veined with the red ochre of iron oxides – is the perfect terroir.

The Cabernet Franc grape’s demanding water regime makes it more difficult to establish in Pomerol, and its presence in the blend is only complementary. There are a few great Cabernet Franc terroirs, which are less demanding in terms of water supply, where the clay subsoil beneath the gravel is closest. Only a perfect knowledge of the terroirs of Pomerol allows us to choose to plant this complementary grape variety in exceptional areas on the plateau or on the slopes, in soils with a water regime similar to that of the Saint-Emilion First Classified Growths at the foot of the slopes (Château Angélus, Château La Gaffelière).

Le millesime

Their character comes from the land,
Their quality comes from the people,
Their personality comes from the elements.”

Peter Sichel
Président de l’Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux de 1989 à 1991

A vintage corresponds to a growing season. Its originality, its personality, as Peter Sichel used to say, comes from the elements, the weather conditions that presided over its birth.

The variety and originality of successive vintages is one of the hallmarks of great wine-growing climates. Bordeaux (and Pomerol), situated on the 45th parallel north, share this quality with Burgundy and the great vineyards of the Rhône Valley and Northern Italy.

As a result, weather conditions vary greatly from one vintage to the next. This variability, a source of richness and complexity, requires constant adaptation and vigilance throughout the growing season, from April to October, to ensure the best possible grapes are harvested.

Observation, pragmatism and know-how for a human approach to vineyard work at all times.

Observation on the estate, backed up by our independent adviser Paul-Marie Morillon, is supported by the local G.D.O.N (Groupement de Défense contre les Organismes Nuisibles) network in the Libourne area.

The ecological balance means that no insecticide treatments are needed. Grape berry worms are controlled by mating disruption.

Treatments for mildew and powdery mildew, guided by observation, are limited to what is necessary.

Harvesting

The grapes are harvested by hand, in small crates, with sorting carried out in the vineyard and vat room before and after de-stemming, allowing the most perfect berries to be vatted by gravity after light crushing.

The aim of the work in the vat room, followed by maturing in barrels (about half in new barrels), is to preserve the clearest possible visibility of the great terroirs of origin. The taste of the wine must be that of its origin, free from any defects linked to its production, secondary to human intervention or lack of it. The work involved in making our great Pomerol wine, Château La Croix de Gay, strives to follow this crest line.

“The taste of the wine must be that of its origin, free from any defects linked to its production, secondary to human intervention or lack of it.”

Axel Marchal.
Balancing wine on the taste buds. In: Les vendanges du savoir, 2nd February 2021, Cité mondiale du vin Bordeaux.

“The purity and power of the flavours, a concentration hidden beneath an appearance of lightness – that’s my idea of the beauty of a modern wine.”

Denis DUBOURDIEU

The result must be ‘purity and power of flavour, concentration hidden beneath an appearance of lightness’

This is an original stylistic approach, based on respect for the fruit, but making it more complex; finesse, harmony and elegance; sapidity, taste and length on the palate as the absolute definitions of a great wine.

“…one of the most elegant and delicately balanced Pomerol.”

Jefford A.
The new France. A complete guide to contemporary french wine. Mitchell Beazley, 2002. p 183.