Les Astéries was the first of the micro cuvée wines in our ‘Single Vineyard Series’ based on the côtes that hug the town of Saint Emilion the land of the Saint Emilion Grand Crus Classés The vines survived the frost of 1956 and date to almost a hundred years Prior to our purchase they were a component of Chateau Fonroque. This parcel is marked by a thin layer of clay over Astéries limestone (rock limestone) This terroir yields a wine with exaggerated minerality in youth Carassonnage the replacement of posts every year requires more effort here than elsewhere on the estate.

The vines are pruned on the double guyot system The secondary shoots are removed and three runs of green harvesting completed in order to achieve no more than four bunches of grapes per vine, at mid véraison The grapes are handpicked into small trays before transfer to the winery. On arrival at the winery the grapes are sorted firstly by bunch and then, after destemming, grape by grape Only conveyors are used to transport the grapes and the wine is fermented in wooden vats after cold maceration The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in new French oak, and are barrel aged in an air conditioned cellar at 18 C.

Les Astéries exhibits a fantastic mineral quality which is in keeping with a belt of terroir that passes through from Chateaux Belair, Canon, and Clos Fourtet. We named the wine Les Astéries after the hardest form of limestone calcaire à astéries on which the vineyard is situated It is unlike any other wine that we make.