Château Haut-Beauséjour: Vineyards
Although the Château Haut-Beauséjour estate boasted 20 hectares when it was created, it has shrunk somewhat since then. As noted in my account of the history of this domaine, by the time Pierre Rousseau had made his acquisition there were just 10 hectares of vines being cultivated, the Rouzaud family having elected to focus on only the best parcels. These 10 hectares came to Rousseau, alongside the estate’s winemaking facilities. This remains the state of play today.
The chai has a rather understated and unadorned exterior, looking a little drab truth be told, and it is located just outside the town of St Estèphe, on the south-west side, on the periphery of the hamlet of Picard. This places the chai and at least some of the Haut-Beauséjour vineyards – the vines pictured in this profile, which are adjacent to the chai – directly west of Château Phélan-Ségur. Naturally, Château Calon-Ségur lies a short distance to the north. This places at least these vines on gravel soils derived from Terrace 3, on the principal mound of such gravel which constitutes the St Estèphe appellation.
