Château de Pressac: Vineyards
The estate is located in Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse, to the west of the town of St Emilion. It sits on the edge of the plateau, as described in my introduction, and some notable neighbours crowd around it, either behind it on the plateau, on alongside it on the côtes. To the north is Château Valandraud, and behind that Château Fleur Cardinale, and I cannot help but feel that the three châteaux share some common traits in the character of the fruit I find on the nose and palate of the wines. To the east (and slightly south a little), on the edge of the plateau, we find Château Mangot and Château Faugères.
The vineyards occupy 40 hectares of the St Emilion appellation, positioned in a single block around the château. Of this, 36 hectares are planted up. The vines are one-third on the plateau, one-third on the côtes, one-third on the pieds de côtes. “The côtes are particularly good for Cabernet Franc”, says Jean-François Quenin. The plateau and côtes are of course predominantly limestone, in particular Calcaire à Astéries, with some clay, especially on the slopes. At the foot of the slope, the pieds de côtes, there are some vines on clay and colluvial slip, but there are also some vines planted on sand.
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