Château Raymond-Lafon: Vineyards
Over the years the estate of Château Raymond-Lafon has grown considerably, from a starting point of 3.5 hectares to a more significant 18 hectares today, of which 16 hectares are currently planted to vines. These vineyards mostly lie just behind the château, which sits on the road running down the slope from Château d’Yquem towards Lamothe and ultimately Preignac. To the west lie Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Château Sigalas-Rabaud and Château Rabaud-Promis, all of which can be seen from Jean-Pierre Meslier’s back-step, even it is just a rooftop or weather vane poking above distant vines (below is Rabaud-Promis, looking across the Raymond-Lafon vineyard), while to the east lie the vineyards of Château Suduiraut and Château d’Yquem.
Indeed, some of the expansion of the Raymond-Lafon vineyard was achieved by the purchase of Yquem vineyards, says Jean-Pierre Meslier; decades ago this was an easy undertaking, and the land was cheap, although today such land would carry a much higher price tag.
Underfoot the soils are clay and gravel, the vines average around 35 years of age, and the varieties are naturally dominated by Semillon, this variety accounting for 80% of the vineyard, with the remaining 20% Sauvignon Blanc, planted at an unremarkable density of 6,666 vines per hectare. Both varieties are pruned hard to six bunches each, and the resulting yield is typically between 8 and 9 hl/ha, a very low figure although not out of the ordinary for Sauternes, as reduced yield is an unavoidable consequence of the dehydration that comes with noble rot.
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