Château Picque Caillou: Vineyards
Château Picque Caillou is located within the suburban sprawl of the city of Bordeaux. Today it is one of only two vineyards of note in the commune of Mérignac, all others (except for neighbouring Château Luchey-Halde which survived as a military training ground before being reborn as a vineyard) having disappeared beneath the inexorable spread of urban housing, and of course the airport which lies a short distance further out, to the west. Other city vineyards include Château Pape Clément, Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion all of which are a short drive to the south and which sit within the communes of Pessac or Talence.
Unlike these other châteaux, however, the vineyard of Château Picque Caillou has been bisected by the construction of a major road into the city; the Avenue François Mitterrand, which was built in 2005, running west-east, connecting the Bordeaux Périphérique with the city centre. Indeed, it was driving along this thoroughfare, heading into the city from the airport many years ago, that I first glimpsed the vines of Château Picque Caillou.
The estate is largely dedicated to vines, although there is also an expanse of woodland directly behind the château. As you would expect the soils here are mostly true Günzian gravel deposited in this region by the flow of the Garonne, very typical of the region, but there are also sand and clay components, so the terroir is perhaps more variable then you were expecting. The mesoclimate is naturally warm, the local temperatures heavily influenced by the surrounding suburbs, which tends to promote an early budbreak, good ripening and naturally an early harvest. It also helps to protect the vineyard from the worst of the spring frosts.
