Château Vray Croix de Gay: Vineyards
There is no château as such at Château Vray Croix de Gay, the wines all being made in the cellars at Château Siaurac, in Lalande-de-Pomerol. This arrangement caused some difficulty for the estate when legislation was passed stating that wines bearing the Pomerol appellation had to be vinified within the appellation; no longer was it sufficient to merely grow the grapes there. The legislation was passed in 1998, but a number of growers based nearby, particularly in Lalande-de-Pomerol, held a derogation, giving them enough time to build cellars within the appellation boundaries. Rather than comply, the group took the matter to court, and eventually in 2018 the court found in their favour, so the current arrangement can continue (if only the same results could be achieved for François Chidaine and Jacky Blot, who have been similarly prevented from using the Vouvray appellation because they vinify their wines on the far side of the river, in Montlouis).
Despite the lack of a château or cellars the vines are easy to identify, at least this is true of the principal parcel which lies in the angle between the Route de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle and the Chemin de Chantecaille, which means it is squeezed between Château La Fleur-Pétrus to the west, Château Le Gay to the north and both Château Lafleur (seen beyond the vines in the image below) and Petrus to the east, all fairly illustrious neighbours. At the very apex of the vineyard there stands a rather dilapidated old farmhouse, one which presumably once belonged to Charles Pommier, and the famous stone cross, which is in very good condition.
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