Sémillon vine with excess buds removed to control the load of grapes. We love this time of year (May and June) when the vines bloom every day (the separated floral buds stage).

 

We use four grape varieties for red wines: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Cot. We use three grape varieties for white wines: Sémillon, Sauvignon, and Muscadelle.

We have made a thorough study of each parcel of land, wherein the expert concluded that “the property is divided in two parts: a very clayey slope and a hard, chalky plateau.../... The quality of the soil observed is due to the strong presence of swollen clay, with an underground water supply to the vines in summer. The Rouffignac lands are, above all, dedicated to Semillon, which gives very good results on this kind of clay. Whereas at Flaugeac, the hard chalk of the plateau has less thick soil with higher iron levels, which are made for the reds.”

We cultivate our vines with as much care as we do our vegetable garden! The vineyard is supervised as early as pruning time, and at each stage of the vine’s development, to encourage the optimum maturity of the grapes. Thus the returns are limited (less than 45hl/ha for the reds and 20 hl/ha for the Monbazillac), and we carry out certain jobs with the sole goal of assuring a high quality harvest (thinning out buds and leaves, for example).

Thanks to the land study, we work the different soils so they give the best of themselves to the vine, all the while respecting the natural balance. We belong to a network involved in a well-thought-out struggle to limit chemical treatments.

We have restructured the vineyard, planting at a density of 6000 vines per hectare, while preserving to the maximum our old vines. We replace vines that have died during the year wherever possible.