Château Batailley: Vineyards
Château Batailley is located in the south-western section of the appellation, obviously adjacent to Château Haut-Batailley, although it enjoys a much more prominent roadside position. The vineyards today comprise about 60 hectares, and are positioned largely to the west of this road, the D206, which runs southwest out of Pauillac. They extend westwards, as far as a small collection of parcels belonging to Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse, beyond which lies the Pauillac appellation boundary and the vineyards of the Haut-Médoc appellation. This places the Batailley vines on the large mound of Terrace 3 gravel which dominates this western corner of the appellation, mixed with the sands of Les Landes.
To the south are the vineyards of Haut-Batailley, but also the vines at the western end of the great block of first- and second-growth vineyards which stretch along the southern boundary of the appellation. Thus there a couple of parcels belong to Château Latour here (the fruit from these plots are usually channelled into the second wine, while the grand vin is sourced from L’Enclos, the vines that surround the château), as well as Château Pichon Comtesse and Château Pichon Baron (again used for the second wines, the grands vins coming from more historic parcels around these properties). There are also vines belonging to Château Lynch-Bages sandwiched among these exalted names. Meanwhile, to the north lie the vineyards of Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste.
The planting is at a density of 8,500 vines per hectare and the vines vary in age, from young to fairly elderly, although on average the age of the vines is about 40 years. The vineyards are very much dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, as one might expect, this variety accounting for 70% of the plantings, the remainder being 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. These percentages have hardly changed at all during the years that the Castéja family have been running the estate.
