Château Talbot: Vineyards
The vineyards of Château Talbot dominate St Julien, in terms of size at least, as they account for an impressive 107 hectares; in an appellation that amounts to little more than 900 hectares, that is a big vineyard! All the other châteaux, from the great second growths such as Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Léoville-Las-Cases and Château Gruaud-Larose, down to the humble cru bourgeois properties (of which there are few), seem to dance around the periphery (mainly to the east, closer to the Gironde) of the Talbot estate, such is its size.
The soils underfoot are, as is typical here, ancient quaternary gravels offering excellent drainage. Of the vineyard area, 102 hectares are planted to red varieties, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon (67%), followed by Merlot (27%), Cabernet Franc (1.5%) and Petit Verdot (4.5%); there are also 5 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The only real shift in varieties planted since I have been following the estate is a slight shift away from Cabernet Franc and towards Petit Verdot, otherwise these figures have hardly changed in the past twenty years. The vines are planted at a density of 7,700 vines per hectare, mostly on 3309 rootstock although there are also some on 101.14 and Riparia. They are Guyot trained, the norm in Bordeaux, with an average age of 35 years.
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