TERROIR & WINEMAKING
" You can't have beautiful plants without loving them, nature gives nothing of itself "
- d'Andilly, gardener of the abbey of Port Royal
TERROIR
The terroir is made up of three elements: the soil, the climate and the man.
“The best of terroirs is in no way different from the bad if it is not cultivated”. This maxim of Vauban is for us a real guide in our work. We indeed benefit from good predispositions, but without the hand of man and his desire to overcome difficulties, a good composition of the soil is only a good card in a game. We strive to get the best out of each plot by respecting the diversity of our land.
The soils are mainly composed of clayey and sandy gravel and colluvium. It is from this diversity that Charmail draws its balance and uniqueness: between finesse and elegance of the gravel and strength and power of the clays .
With a view to serving our terroir, we replanted 6 new hectares in 2010 and are in the process of integrating neighboring terroirs. The increase of Petit Verdot confers very interesting spicy notes, rare in Haut Médoc which, combined with a dominant of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, give the final blend its uniqueness.
We are also putting everything in place to preserve our land, which is so precious to us, and to progress in an environmental approach . We work the soil by digging, hilling, scratching, which allows the plant to take root deeply and to be less sensitive to water stress. Moreover, we do not use chemical fertilizers or herbicides and have planted 6km of hedges to promote the ecosystem around the vineyard. Sheep we will assist in the near future to weed responsibly.
Harvesting
Charmail is the wine of a team led by Sébastien Pineau. From the plant to the cellars, from the pickers to the cellar master, via the tribaie, each and every object has a specific and important role.
We are committed every day to serving our terroir and with this in mind we have switched to manual harvesting . We thus respect the vine stock and harvest only the best berries. We have also implemented the use of tribaie to improve the grape selection process.
In terms of vinification, everything is done to serve Charmail's credo, namely to favor balance . Cold pellicular maceration, invented at the property, makes it possible to extract from the skins the components that generate the best tannins. The aging in French oak barrels lasts 12 months and we renew them by thirds in order to avoid excess wood. We also seek to innovate, in particular with the recent use of concrete eggs as a complement to oak barrels.
We make every effort to highlight the Fruit and it is the balance that creates elegance .