Clos Manou: Vineyards
Clos Manou is located in the village of St-Christoly-Médoc, and although Stephane has consolidates there remain (confusingly) at least two Clos Manou cellars. One sits on the eastern periphery of the village, on the Rue du 19 Mars 1962 (in case you are wondering, the date of the ceasefire that heralded the end of the Algerian War). The other, newer cellars, which I visited, sit on the Avenue du Général de Gaulle (no explanation required, I am sure) which runs through the heart of the settlement. The vineyards, all 18.5 hectares of them, divided between an astonishing 55 micro-parcels, are all in close proximity, within a few kilometres.
The vines are planted on several different terroirs, says Stéphane “one-third gravel, one-third sandy and one-third clay and limestone,” and are 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and the remaining 5% is a mix of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Many of the parcels Stéphane Dief acquired were planted to Merlot, but he uprooted many of these to focus more on Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, as well as increasing planting density to 1m x 1m which equates to 10,000 vines per hectare.
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