Château Chasse-Spleen: Vineyards
Château Chasse-Spleen sits on the outskirts of the hamlet of Grand Poujeaux, well east of the villages of Moulis-en-Médoc and Listrac-Médoc. The neighbours are rather easy to identify, many of them linked to Château Chasse-Spleen and the hamlet of Grand Poujeaux, either through a shared history, or at the very least a shared name. These include Château Branas-Grand-Poujeaux and Château Granins-Grand-Poujeaux, all based in and around the hamlet. Just to the north is Château Poujeaux itself, and Château Maucaillou, both once part of the Castaing empire.
The vineyards of Château Chasse-Spleen lie scattered around the château and cellars. There are three distinct terroirs to the Moulis-en-Médoc appellation, these being from west to east Granins, Cap de Haut and Grand Poujeaux. As you might imagine the hamlet of Grand Poujeaux sits on the terroir of the same name, which is predominantly gravel, with some chalky elements. Approximately 80% of the Chasse-Spleen vineyard sits on the gravelly terroirs, either pure gravel or sandy gravel, with 20% featuring more clay albeit still with some gravel, or even clay with limestone.
When Didier Ters visited during the 1980s, prior to writing Moulis Listrac (Longman, 1990) the vineyard accounted for 65 hectares, and was planted with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc.
