Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion: Vineyards
The vineyards are surrounded by the bungalows of suburban Bordeaux, and lie very close to those of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, with just a few rows of houses interposed between the two. The vineyard is not difficult to find, and is in fact mere walking distance from the hotel I have used regularly during the Bordeaux primeurs, a sign of its suburban encapsulation of course. Unfortunately, although the château is in my opinion one of the prettiest, it is extremely difficult to obtain a good view of it, the entire vineyard being surrounded by a solid concrete wall which must be at least 2 metres in height. I hope – considering this is surely the jewel in the Pichet crown – that the new proprietor replaces this unlike perimeter with more appealing iron railings, or similar, like those that surround its more illustrious counterparts just down the road.
The original vineyard was very small, a mere 4.7 hectares, and although this is obviously still the case the Pichet group have enlarged their holdings beyond this. The vines from Château Le Thil Comte Clary vines brought another 5.6 hectares, and from Haut Nouchet another 6.5 hectares, bring the total in the ownership of Groupe Pichet to 16.8 hectares. There is a plan to grub up the Château Haut Nouchet vines after the 2013 vintage and replant at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare to match the original Carmes Haut-Brion vineyard. This original vineyard remains the source of the grand vin, with the fruit from these subsequent vineyard purchases destined to bolster the volumes of a second label, christened Le Clos des Carmes.
