Château Lamothe: Vineyards
There are just 7.5 hectares of vines gathered around Château Lamothe, making this one of the smaller of the classified Sauternes estates. They occupy an elevated position on the plateau and running down the slopes around the property. Underfoot here, the deeper layers include limestone containing fossilised oysters and marls of clay mixed with limestone and sand. These rocks and soils are ancient, dating from the Tertiary.
Overlying these deeper layers is gravel and sand, deposited by the Garonne during the Quaternary. The gravel, which originated in the Pyrenees, is widespread thanks to the many and varied courses the Garonne took over the landscape. As the climate changed and the sea levels rose, the Garonne flowed slowly, meandering as it saw fit, depositing its gravel in broad sweeps. Then, with increased glaciation, millennia later the sea levels fell and as a response the river cut a newer, faster, more direct path across the landscape. This explains why the gravel croupes are so broad and scattered across Sauternes and Graves.
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