Château de Ferrand: Vineyards
As I have already indicated in the introduction to this profile, Château de Ferrand is situated on the plateau to the east of the town of St Emilion. To be more precise it is located on a promontory of the plateau which projects out onto the plain of the Dordogne, with small valleys carved into the côte on either side. It is almost the only building on this section of the plateau, save for the aforementioned church and a few other associated outbuildings. Otherwise it is vineyards as far as you can seem, in every direction. The nearest neighbour of any repute is perhaps Château Lassègue, in the valley below, although further back on the plateau the much-improved Château Laroque is also not far away.
The estate covers 42 hectares in total, upon which there are 32 hectares of vineyard planted in a single expansive block, which makes this a fairly large estate for the St Emilion appellation. The varieties planted are led by Merlot at 82% of the total area, the remaining 18% divided between Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, planted at a density of 7,000 vines per hectare. New plantings are at a greater density, of 8,500 vines per hectare, and the percentage of Cabernet Franc is on the rise, with a target of at least 24% during the 2020s. Despite this, the average age of the vines remains somewhere between 25 and 30 years. As for the 10 hectares not dedicated to vines, this includes the buildings but is mostly woodland, including that wooded slope described in my introduction.
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