Château Rabaud-Promis: Vineyards
What Philippe Dejean acquired in the 1970s was a 35-hectare estate, of which 33 hectares was committed to vineyard. These are situated on the same hill as Château Sigalas-Rabaud, although the approach up the hill to Château Rabaud-Promis is a different one to that taken to access Château Sigalas-Rabaud. Other near neighbours include Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Clos Haut-Peyraguey. The soils underfoot thus bear some similarities with those found in these vineyards, with gravel over sandy clay the most dominant.
The château faces north, looking down onto the D116 through a tree-lined avenue which is sufficiently long to obscure all but the slightest view of the house from the road. The vineyards of Château Sigalas-Rabaud lie not-quite directly behind the château and to the south, those of Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Clos Haut-Peyraguey to the east, and unless I am mistaken the Château Rabaud-Promis vineyards lie in front of the château, sloping gently down towards the west. At the foot of the vineyard it is a very short distance – just a few hundred metres in fact – to the Ciron, the river of cool water which is responsible for generating the morning mists which do so much to encourage the development of botrytis on the ripening fruit.
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