Domaine Mélaric: Vineyards
As indicated in my introduction Aymeric and Mélanie purchased 4 hectares of vines in 2008, and these are the same 4 hectares they tend today. They have Chenin Blanc on 2.7 hectares and Cabernet Franc on 1.3 hectares. Their philosophy is to work meticulously in the vineyard, carrying out much of the work by hand with the help of a horse; they thereby obtain fruit of the highest quality; Aymeric’s philosophy is that only by ensuring he harvests the best quality grapes is he able to make wines of good quality. He and Mélanie grow cover crops between the rows through the winter, cutting it back in spring. They restrict yields with hard pruning and bud removal, and aid ripening in the summer with leaf removal, all done by hand. When a vine dies and needs replacing, new stock is generated by sélection massale.
Their vineyards include two notable lieux-dits, these being Billes de Roches and Clos de la Cerisaie. Billes de Roches is the first, and can be found near the top of the puy, on the east-facing side. The soil is a light clay, between 30 and 80 centimetres deep, and beneath that is the limestone chalk of the upper Turonian which was the basis for the Puy-Notre-Dame being awarded its own appellation. There are both white and red vines planted here, there being 0.6 hectares of Cabernet Franc and 1.4 hectares of Chenin Blanc. The red vines are aged around 30 years, the white vines are 20 and 40 years old.
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