Château Moulin Haut-Laroque: Vineyards
Château Moulin Haut-Laroque is located in the commune of Saillans, a small settlement on the plateau of Fronsac, the slopes of which run down to the waters of the Isle, as it meanders its way towards its union with the Dordogne. Château Moulin Haut-Laroque sits very close to the top of these slopes.
The vineyard of Château Moulin Haut-Laroque covers – and this is true for as long as I have known the estate and its wines – 16 hectares of the Fronsac appellation, divided between two principal parcels. It is the combination of these two parts, the Moulin and Haut-Laroque vineyards, that give the property its name. The easiest parcel to locate is that situated directly in front of the château, where the stone menhir has been erected; this is the Moulin parcel, where the soils are predominantly clay, of varying depths, over a limestone bedrock. Presumably, given their position, these have been Hervé vines since time immemorial, or at least since the 17th century.
The Haut-Laroque vines occupy, as the name might suggest, a higher point in the appellation, close to the Haut-Carles parcel belonging to near-neighbour Château de Carles. These vines have been in the possession of the Hervé family since at least the 19th century. This parcel is noteworthy as it is home to some of the estate’s oldest Cabernet Franc vines, planted before World War II (which means, significantly, they survived the great frost of 1956), and which are essential to the blend of the grand vin.
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