Clos Saint Martin: Vineyards
Clos Saint Martin is located in the shadow, as suggested within my introduction to this domaine, of both Château Canon and the Église St Martin-de-Mazerat. Other near neighbours include Château Beau-Séjour Bécot to the north, Château Beauséjour to the west, as well as Château Angélus, Vieux Château Mazerat and Château Berliquet to the southwest and south. This places the domaine firmly on the limestone plateau of St Emilion, on the western side, appropriately known as the Plateau de St-Martin by those wishing to distinguish it from the plateau to the east of St Emilion, around St Christophe-de-Bardes, the Plateau de St-Christophe. The soils are thus a meagre mix of clay and limestone, which lies in a thin layer over bare limestone rock.
The clos boasts a mere 1.33 hectares of land, with a very gentle decline to the south and west, and in recent years about 1.115 hectares of this slope have been in production, the rest replanted with young vines. These are 80% Merlot with 10% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, aged about 35 years. The work in the vineyard is conventional, with no recourse to organic or biodynamic methods. As you might imagine, with barely more than a hectare of vines to look after (smaller even than Château Lafleur, the usual vineyard-size yardstick), the vines are tended as if a garden.
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