Château du Retout: Vineyards
The estate is located in Vieux Cussac, at the southern edge of the commune of Cussac-Fort-Médoc, in the Haut-Médoc appellation. There are 34 hectares of vineyards, largely spread out to the north and west of the château, although as indicated some are down by the original Retou-Rosset, which is just to the south in Lamarque. Near neighbours include Château de Lamarque almost directly east, on the far side of the Jalle du Cartillon, one of the drainage channels that runs down to the Gironde. Just on the far side of Lamarque lies Château Malescasse.
Of the 34 hectares, the vast majority is dedicated to red varieties, 32.2 hectares all told. Most of the vines are Cabernet Sauvignon, although it is a narrow majority, this variety accounting for 56.5% of the vineyard. Next comes Merlot at 35%, Petit Verdot at 7% and Cabernet Franc at 1.5%, with an overall planting density of 6666 vines per hectare. The land rises up to a peak of 23 metres, where the aforementioned 13th-century windmill sits. There are two contrasting soil types; on the higher ground there is gravel, whereas on the lower ground there is clay. It was here, in the most honest assessment of the vintage I heard during an entire week visiting and tasting in Bordeaux, that I learnt just how difficult the drought of the 2012 growing season had been. Frédéric explained how the vines on the two soils types coped during the dry weather, those on gravel shutting down, while those on clay were able to continue ripening the grapes.
