Château La Clotte: Vineyards
The domaine sits just to the east of the town of St Emilion, looking dome across the Val de Fongaban. Further along the valley lie Château La Serre (pictured behind the wall, below) and Château Le Prieuré, while on the opposite side sits Château Pavie-Macquin (pictured in the background behind the tower in the image on the preceding page). This places Château La Clotte firmly on the limestone plateau, highly desirable terroir, the surface soils a mix of sand and clay, the bedrock the desirable Calcaire à Astéries.
There are just 3.5 hectares of vines here, this being a small domaine even for the St Emilion appellation. The vines are mostly Merlot, with small areas committed to both Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines are aged 50 years on average, and they are planted at a traditional density of 6,000 pieds per hectare. The work on the vineyard is as we would expect for a Vauthier domaine, being conventional, without recourse to certifiable organic or biodynamic viticulture, but nevertheless based on meticulous and precise methodologies. You only have to look at the immaculate nature of their vineyards to appreciate this much. The vines are looked after by chef de culture Laurent Vallet.
