Domaine de L’A: Vineyards
The domaine itself is located in Sainte Colombe, a small hamlet not far at all from the limits of the St Emilion appellation. Less than two kilometres to the west is Château Faugères, which of course straddles the boundary between the St Emilion and Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux appellations, and just beyond that the famed Château de Pressac. Clos Puy Arnaud, and the town of Belvès-de-Castillon, lie a kilometre or perhaps a little more to the east.
As of 2024 the domaine now boasts 12 hectares of vines, Stéphane and team having acquired another 4 hectares since I first visited back in 2012. These are located in a number of plots, acquired in a sequence of purchases as outlined in my introduction. They are all located on south-facing slopes, in order to ensure good maturity, as the climate on this side of St Emilion is a little cooler, and the vineyards tend towards later ripening. Underfoot the soils are mostly clay (over the aforementioned limestone, naturally), a rather cool environment for the roots, another retarding factor. The planting density is now approximately 7,000 vines per hectare, this figure having been increased greatly by the inter-planting already described. Other early work involved raising the trellis height, to improve the surface area of the leaf canopy for improved photosynthesis.
The vines themselves range in age, up to 70 years for the oldest, and there is a predominance of Merlot, although because of the interplanting of Cabernet Franc in some plots the exact percentages are not known. Nevertheless, over the domaine as a whole, the varieties planted are approximately 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.
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