Château d’Aiguilhe: Vineyards
The estate is located close to Saint-Philippe d’Aiguille (reputedly the origin of the name d’Aiguilhe), in Castillon but very near the border with the St Emilion appellation. Today it remains an estate of considerable size, although it does not quite match the 400 hectares that Martineau possessed in the 19th century. There are now 110 hectares of land of which approximately 50 hectares are dedicated to the vine. These vineyards are planted largely on the upper sections of south-facing slopes, and the soils underfoot are unsurprisingly dominated by limestone and clay, with some areas of silt.
The vines are 28-years old on average, and red varieties dominate. These are 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Until recently this was the entirety of the vineyard at Château Aiguilhe, but Stephan von Neipperg has also decided to dip his toe into the increasingly interesting world of Bordeaux white with the planting of 0.35 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc. The fruit was sufficient for a tiny commercial release in the 2015 vintage, but with a plan to graft another hectare of vines to white varieties during the course of 2016 we can expect to see more of this wine in the future. Stephan also plans to plant Chardonnay on some chalky soils outside the Castillon appellation.
