Château Malartic-Lagravière: Vineyards
Château Malartic-Lagravière is located close to the centre of Léognan, very close to the D651 as it heads southwest out of the town. As such the landscape is a real mixture of vineyards, woodland and suburban housing. Continue along the D651 and vines come to dominate a little more, as you pass Château de France and then Château de Fieuzal.
The soils here are typical of the region; superficially there is a high platform of gravel originating from the Quaternary era, as much as 8 metres deep in places. Beneath this there lies a limestone bedrock, peppered with ancient shells, fossils of the sea-creatures that once drifted here, in an ancient sea. There are also a few streaks of clay to be found. As I have already indicated in my introduction and history the vineyard has expanded recently with the absorption of Château Gazin Rocquencourt. Up until 2017 the Malartic-Lagravière vineyard covered 53 hectares (the estate was 60 hectares in total), but the new vines add a further 22 hectares, on an estate covering 30 hectares. Today, therefore, the Bonnie family have approximately 75 hectares of vines at their disposal, comparable to some of the largest cru classé estates on the Médoc, or some of the most significant names in St Emilion.
