Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse: Vineyards
As noted in my opening paragraphs on the first page of this profile, unlike many vineyards of the great estates of Pauillac, the vineyards of Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse are parcellated across the appellation, and not that easy to locate or identify. The reasons are simple, and twofold. First, there is no grand château as a focal point among the vineyards of Pauillac, because – as I have already explained – Pierre Ducasse chose to build his luxuriously appointed château and winemaking facilities in the town of Pauillac, on the quayside overlooking the waters of the Gironde. Secondly, there are no (or at least I don’t recall seeing any) vineyard signs or markers as erected by some other estates. They may be there, but I have certainly not spotted them as I have whizzed up and down the D2 and the D206 in my hire car.
While they are perhaps somewhat anonymous, there are nevertheless 40 hectares of vineyards, the area having more than trebled since the acquisition of the estate by Cordier-Mestrezat. To add to the original 10-hectare purchase, all that remained of the 60 hectares owned by Pierre Ducasse, the new proprietors added a plot of fifteen-year old vines, and a plot of older vines, giving 40 hectares, as were acquired by Crédit Agricole Grands Crus.
Thus today the vineyards today lie in five different sections, and despite the difficulties above I have managed to identify the location of these vineyards. The first parcels lie in the Batailley sector to the west, on the very periphery of the Pauillac appellation. These vines sit just north of Sainte-Anne, where some of the appellation’s most famous names including Latour, Pichon Baron, Pichon Comtesse and Lynch-Bages have vines, and to the west of Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Batailley. The terroir here is typical of the very western reaches of the appellation, being predominantly black sand over a deeper clay. Here there is Merlot and Petit Verdot planted.
