Château Malescasse: Vineyards
Lamarque is one of three communes, the other two being Cussac-Fort-Médoc and Arcins, that lie between the Margaux and St Julien appellations. As noted in my introduction, the highest point (and therefore presumably the deepest part of the gravel bed) lies just to the south of the town of Lamarque, where Château Malescasse is situated.
The vineyards are therefore planted on an expanse of alluvial sandy-gravel soils (pictured), deep and presumably well-drained, even if the vineyards themselves seem rather featureless, the soils compact, and the planting rather low-density (as seen on the second page of this profile). Today there are 40 hectares of vines planted here, in 28 separate parcels. The vines are 35 years old, and the increased planting of Merlot has today resulted in a focus on this variety in the vineyard, where there is 54% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc. There is also a small parcel of Petit Verdot, amounting to 1.27 hectares. This doesn’t appear to be destined for blending in the grand vin, however, and in the past it seems to have been bottled separately as a special cuvée.
