The
Vineyard
Château Rouquette
The
Vineyard
The vineyard comprises 31 hectares (78 acres). The average age of the vines is 24 years, which represents full maturity.
The grape varieties are:
Terroir
Chateau Rouquette has a reputation for the quality of its terroir. This reflects a unique combination of factors: position, soil, geology and weather being dominant. Our aim is to express this spirit of place in the wine.
The vineyard is mainly
south-east or east facing, sloping down towards the small River Dureze. The vines enjoy the sun
throughout the day and have excellent drainage. "Rouquette" means
"little rock" and the
soil is clay with limestone. It has above average alkaline
levels which encourage the important mineral nutrients that contribute to the
high quality of the terroir. The picture on the left, which can be
enlarged by clicking on it, shows a plan of the vineyard, which surrounds the
château. There are 25 plots: different grape varieties, planted at different
times, with different orientations and with different root stocks.
Our best plots are
usually the higher ones. On the photo above, taken in winter, they stretch up
the hill on the right and beyond the wood onto a plateau. The nearest
visible plots are numbered 7 and 10 (Cabernet Sauvignon) and 8 and 11
(Merlot) We almost always use the two latter plots for the Merlot we put
into Rouquette and the Cabernet from 7 and 10 is always excellent.. The lower
plots, on the left of the photo, are usually not as good, and are numbered 12
and 13. Why is there this difference in quality? At least part of it may be
explained by the geology.
The diagram on the right shows a geological cut through 3 of these plots: in the photo they are 7 and 10 on the hill and 13 below. The band of Calcaire à Astéries, or starfish limestone, in pink, is the same band of rock on which St Emilion is built and which underlies the best vineyards there. Our best plots rest on or above this outcrop. The much harder limestone band, in blue on the plan, is what the château is built on and where the main water table forms. The vines, 10-30 meters above, are forced to push their roots deep to obtain moisture. This geology was formed during the Oligocene Age. It is a fascinating thought that the vineyard owes it's terroir to events which occurred a million years ago!
The property tends to avoid the major storms that hit the Gironde as they usually follow the Dordogne or Garone rivers and Rouquette is almost exactly in between. Furthermore, the highest point in the Gironde is nearby and often splits any storms in two so that they avoid Rouquette. We usually harvest a few days later than St Emilion and the Médoc.
Management of the Vineyard
Effeuillage (reducing the leaf cover) is carried out each year to ensure maximum ripeness of the grapes. The exception was in 2005, due to the drought. We try to limit the yield for Rouquette to around 45 hectoliters per hectare - the levels of a Grand Cru rather than a Bordeaux Supérieur. We prefer to do this through the pruning but if yields are too high in a particular year we will carry out vendanges vertes (reducing the bunches of grapes). We crop thinned in 2001, 2004 and 2005. Harvest is delayed as long as possible to achieve full maturity. Both hand and machine picking is used to harvest the grapes with most of the Rouquette label hand picked.
Seven years ago a policy of systematically reducing the use of chemicals on the vineyard was begun, known as "lutte raisonnée" (see our June 2007 newsletter for more details). Our policy is to spray only when essential. We are helped by access to 4 weather stations situated near to the property. A computer system allows monitoring of each of the 25 plots in detail.
We have a 10 year plan for replanting to improve the quality of the wine. Since 1999 we have replanted 11% of the vineyard (3.3 hectares or 8 acres). Low quality, low density vines have been replaced with higher density (4,400 vines per hectare) to improve concentration. A new plantation of 2.5 hectares is planned for 2008.