Château Duhart-Milon: Vineyards
Under the Rothschilds the vineyards of Château Duhart-Milon, which at the time of the acquisition in 1962 had been dominated by dying vines and were overly-rich in Petit Verdot, were largely cleared, drainage installed, and new vines planted. As I have already indicated, the vineyard is now up to 76 hectares, on an estate that covers 152 hectares. Today the vines are predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, this variety accounting for 67% of the vineyard, with 33% Merlot. The Cabernet Franc, which once accounted for 3% of the vines, seems to have been grubbed up, as has the Petit Verdot.
In addition the team have also supervised the planting of a vineyard of white varieties, predominantly Semillon, with a little Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris. These are very young vines, which first produced a crop in 2020, although the first vintage to be released was the 2021.
The vines are planted on fairly typical soils for the region of fine gravel, mixed with the wind-blown sands of Les Landes, on a tertiary limestone bedrock. It is a slightly cooler terroir than that of Château Lafite-Rothschild.
