Château de Carles: Vineyards
Château de Carles sits directly above the waters of the Isle as they flow south, admittedly in a widely exaggerated meander, towards the river’s union with the Dordogne. Further up the slope and to the south a little sits the settlement of Saillans, where Château Villars and Château Fontenil can be found nestled among the residential properties. Even closer at hand, to the south, sit the elegant Château Puyguilhem and beyond that Château Dalem, complete with its dramatic new cellars.
The property’s vines cover 19 hectares of the Fronsac appellation, all within the commune of Saillans, on predominantly south- and east-facing slopes. The slopes are covered with soils of clay with limestone and silt, and they are planted mostly with Merlot, in recent years more than 90% of the entire surface. In keeping with the shift in practice across the region there has been a move towards planting more Cabernet Franc here in recent years though.
Previously accounting for a small percentage of the vineyard, by 2023 plantings of Cabernet Franc propagated by massal selection brought the percentage of this variety up to 10%, with the aim being to push this up to 20% in coming years. Alongside these two varieties there are also a few rows of Malbec also cultivated here. On the whole the age of the vineyard is between 30 and 35 years, and planting density is up to 10,000 vines per hectare in parts.
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