Château les Grandes Murailles: Vineyards
The vines of Château les Grandes Murailles were those situated right on the northern edge of the town of St Emilion, close to the roundabout at the top of the town. It is difficult to miss the vineyard in question; just look out for the ruined wall, the interior structure of which clearly betrays its ecclesiastical history, looming over all that surrounds it. The vineyard sat directly adjacent to Clos Fourtet, into which it was absorbed in 2022, contemporaneous with the publication of the revised St Emilion classification. Today it is thus one small parcel in that estate, but this profile describes it as it was when it was operated independently.
This was a small vineyard, with just 1.46 hectares of land planted to vines. They dug their roots into soils of mixed clay and limestone, which lie over a solid limestone rock. Beneath the vines are cellars carved directly from this rock, with just two metres of limestone supporting the soil and vines which sit above this cool, subterranean cavern. The vines were 100% Merlot, aged over 30 years, planted at a density of 7,500 vines per hectare. The work in the vineyard was conventional, perhaps best described as viticulture raisonnée with restricted use of synthetic treatments, and there was a traditional approach to leaf-plucking and green harvesting.
