Château Le Crock: Vineyards
Château Le Crock sits barely a few minutes walk from Château Cos d’Estournel, on the same gravel plateau, albeit separated by the aforementioned marsh, and with the Médoc’s only railway line also dividing the two (if driving between the two, don’t hit the railway line too hard, it is a vicious bump).
The vineyards of Château Le Crock cover a total of 32.5 hectares. The vines are approximately 37 years old on average, and are situated on gentle slopes surrounding the château, as high as 23 metres above sea level. Despite Saint-Estèphe’s reputation for having heavier clay soils, a visit to the region quickly illustrates that many vineyards here are in fact blessed with inordinate amounts of gravel. This is certainly true here at Château Le Crock, the soils carpeted with grey-white gravel (pictured below, left). Dig deeper and there are seams of sandy soils here, unsurprising considering our proximity to the marais (marshes) and the Gironde. Only beneath the gravel and sand is the clay and the hard limestone bedrock, calcaire à astéries, that typifies the region.
