“LES ARGILLÉRES” are trerra rossa soils that are red clays over limestone which are particularly well adapted for excellent Merlot.

For the coté ouest our aim in the vineyard is to limit the vineyard vigour and to pick late at full ripeness.

The Merlot is 181 on Riperia rootstocks Cabernet Sauvignon is on 420a roots.

High-density plantations 7500 vines par hectare at 0,7x1,90m for the competition aspect. The inter row area is grassed down with a red fescue grass. Canopy management is simple with leaf plucking carried out on the shaded side of the vines to keep the microclimate warmer; three light summer trims.

Here the winemaking is traditional and about tannin management for the Coté Ouest. The fruit is machine harvested early in the morning to enter cool grapes 8-12°C.   Gentle processing with no crushing only desteming allows us cold soak as long as possible; we inoculate with EC118 before the wild micro flora start taking over. The must is fermented in swimming pools 1m meter high by 3m in diameter open fermenters. To get a good start the fermentations are heated to 28°C and plunged 8 times a daily with the frequency tapering off towards the end of ferment. We leave the skins to macerate up to two weeks after the end of fermentation. This has the effect of softening tannins and adding further complexity to the aromatic profile of the wines. Skins are scooped off the top of the fermenters into our Pera 40 airbag press where the initial free run full of solids and the last pressings are separated. The wines are left on lees until the final blend. We use a variety of coopers from Burgundy the aim is to put half the wine into 500lits. Fining is done with 3-4 fresh egg whites before bottling

In barriques of 225 lits for 12 months

This wine has a very deep intense colour, nearly ink due to the excellent ripeness of the grapes. - The nose exodus warm aromas of confit black currants and strawberries. -In the mouth opens up ample to balanced classy tannins and finishes with a return of fruit

Red meats, Magret of duck, Pasta, Dry Cheese i.e. Parmesan.

Three to seven years