Château Filhot: Vineyards
The estate is the most southerly classified property in the Sauternes appellation, and lies south of the town of Sauternes itself. The rather grand château sits quite isolated not only from the rest of the appellation, but even from its own vineyards. A small stream, running east-west here, has channelled a shallow depression in the land, effectively forming a boundary between the château and the vines. This water course was put to good use when the gardens were sculpted by Fischer, who stemmed its flow directly in front of the château in order to create a small ornamental lake. Thereafter it flows onwards, to join the Ciron, to the west.
To the south, behind the château, are the pine forests of Landes. This body of trees has a potentially cooling effect on the vineyards, increasing local levels of humidity, but to some extent they also protect the vines from strong winds.
The vineyards which exist in a single block have recovered from the earlier contraction and now account for 62 hectares of the Sauternes appellation, although this is only a fraction of the estate which amounts in its entirety to 350 hectares, and little more than half the area that was planted to vines during the 19th century. These vines lie on the northern side of the aforementioned stream, close to those of Château Lamothe and Château Lamothe-Guignard.
