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 a small church – the Église de Saint-Hippolyte – just to the south, and a few associated outbuildings, the Village du Château Ferrand. 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, and not far to the east we can find Château Destieux.
The estate covers 42 hectares in total, of which 32 hectares are dedicated to vines planted in a single expansive block, which makes this a fairly large estate for the St Emilion appellation. As of 2025 the varieties planted are led by Merlot at 70% of the total area (down from 82% only a decade or so ago), with 29% accounted for by Cabernet Franc and the remaining 1% being Cabernet Sauvignon. The decline in Merlot has been accompanied by a decline in Cabernet Sauvignon, and both have been compensated for by increasing the area dedicated to Cabernet Franc. Notably, there is no plan to remove the final 1% of Cabernet Sauvignon, as Pauline and Philippe have decided to keep it as a reminder of its historical role on the estate. The vines are generally planted at a density of 7,000 vines per hectare, although the newer plantings are at a greater density, of 8,500 vines per hectare. Despite this restructuring 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, a section of which is pictured below, beyond the vines.
