Château Quintus: Vineyards
Château Quintus sits on a limestone ridge at an altitude of 62 metres, just to the southwest of the town of St Emilion. The ridge sits on the very edge of the limestone plateau; to the south the land falls away quickly; here there is a desirable south-facing slope of limestone and clay which runs down to the D670, the road that runs out of Libourne out towards Castillon-la-Bataille. Beyond the road is the sandy-gravelly plain of St Emilion which spreads out as far as the Dordogne. On the other side of the ridge the land falls away again but here, just to the west of the town of St Emilion, are some of the region’s greatest vineyards, including Château Canon and Château Angélus, was well as Château Berliquet and Vieux Château Mazerat. The defining feature of the Quintus vineyard, however, is the south-facing clay-limestone slope. It is the vines on this part of the vineyard that will make the grand vin. Those planted over on the other side of the ridge are not so advantaged; admittedly the slope is gentle, but nevertheless has a slightly cooler, north-facing aspect. Those on the valley floor have even less desirable terroir.
Today there are 42 hectares of vines here, 10 hectares having come from Château L’Arrosée in 2013, and another 14 hectares absorbed following the acquisition of Château Grand Pontet in 2021. The balance represents the vines of the original Château Tertre-Daugay. The vines have on average between 30 and 40 years of age even after the 2021 expansion, and after amalgamating the three properties I reckon the vineyard to be about 68% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, not hugely different to the proportions prior to the most recent acquisition, and still rather richer in Cabernet than we might expect. These figures are probably already out of date though, as there is an ongoing programme of pulling up the Cabernet Sauvignon and replanting with the other two varieties.
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