Poesia: Vineyards
As I have already indicated in my introduction, the domaine is located on the plateau, well to the east of the town of St Emilion, right on the cusp of the transition from St Emilion to Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. The estate’s neighbours, situated either side of the D243 as it heads out east, reflect this. Just before you pass Poesia you will see Château Valandraud, and slightly set back from the main road there lies Château Fleur-Cardinale, two St Emilion stalwarts, the first having secured the rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé in the 2012 classification. Continue on past Poesia, however, and you will quickly find yourself at the gates to L’Aurage, the Castillon domaine run by Louis Mitjavile, the son of François Mitjavile, of Château Tertre-Roteboeuf.
Sitting right on the edge of the plateau, the cellars occupy what is one of the highest points in the St Emilion appellation, at an altitude of 89 metres, in the commune of St-Etienne-de-Lisse. On the slopes below the Poesia vines sit Château Mangot and Château Faugères.
Under Eric Lenormand the domaine had grown to about 9 hectares, although following restructuring and uprooting under Hélène Garcin-Lévêque the area planted to vines was, temporarily, almost halved. By 2018, just five years after the purchase, the area of productive vineyard was down to just 5.73 hectares, after which it began to climb again, coming up to 8.87 hectares by 2021, bringing it very close to the maximum possible. It remains at about this size today.
