Les Champs Libres: Vineyards
The Les Champs Libres vineyards are located just to the west of Château Grand Village, both lying well beyond the Fronsac appellation. The sit in an orbit around the hamlet of Ambaud, on a plateau of limestone and thin clay soils.
There are 1.2 hectares dedicated to the cru, all planted to Sauvignon Blanc; while this is the make-up of current and recent vintages, which since 2021 have all been made using solely this variety, clearly there was more flexibility in the sourcing of fruit in prior vintages which often included a splash or two of Semillon. The Guinaudeau family have established a small Semillon nursery though, so if the quality is sufficiently high, perhaps we will see Semillon return to the blend once again in the future.
There are four source parcels, three of which are closely approximated to one another, next to the hamlet of Brandet on the Ambeau plateau. The largest is À Louima, the original parcel carved out from the Grand Village vineyard, which stands at 0.79 hectares. with neighbouring parcels Mathilde and Léonard coming in at 0.65 and 0.36 hectares respectively.
Please log in to continue reading: