Château Taillefer: Vineyards
The château itself is located in the southern-most part of the Pomerol appellation, east of Libourne, and as I have already indicated the Tailhas and the boundary with St Emilion is very close, to the east. Right-next door, before you get to the boundary, is the rather bijou Clos Beauregard, which the Moueix family owned before it went to Jean-Michel Moueix in the 1991 split and was eventually sold off. Having said that, the wines were apparently made at Château Taillefer for many years. Just beyond the St Emilion boundary lies the vineyards of the two Château la Tour du Pin de Figeac estates, as well as Château Figeac and Château Cheval Blanc of course. To the north and west are the other châteaux that exploit these more sandy soils close to Libourne, including Château Plince and Château Bonalgue.
The property is a good size for Pomerol, coming in at about 13 hectares, of which a little less than 12 hectares are planted to vines. The vineyard has a fairly typical terroir of gravel and sand on the upper layers, with deeper clay peppered with the iron-rich crasse de fer. The vines, planted at a density of 6000 pieds per hectare, average over 30 years of age, and are today 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Looking back even at my old notes I see this is different to how the vineyard looked a decade or two ago, with more Merlot today. These newer plantings have replaced old plots of Cabernet, which included Cabernet Sauvignon, and there was probably once Malbec planted here as well.
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