Château Coutet: Vineyards
This is a large vineyard, the largest in Barsac in fact; the entire estate amounts to 42 hectares, of which 38.5 hectares are committed to the vine; the estate is bisected only by a narrow road which runs up through Coutet, past Château Doisy-Daëne, and ultimately on to Château Climens on the distant rise. Here we are at a heady 12 metres above sea level, an almost mountainous altitude for this region, although not quite matching the 20 metres found at Château Climens, the highest point for the appellation, where locals often report feelings of nausea, vertigo and altitude sickness. Just a kilometre to the east lies the course of the Ciron, credited with bringing conditions favourable to botrytis to the region.
The vines are 75% Semillon and 23% Sauvignon Blanc, the remaining 2% Muscadelle, and this ratio has persisted for as long as I have known the estate and its wines. There is an ongoing program of replanting in order to replace older stock, maintaining an average age within the vineyard of about 35 years. They are planted on the usual Bordeaux rootstocks Riparia-Gloire and 420A with a planting density of 7,500 vines per hectare.
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