The term “Chaillées” comes from regional dialect meaning ‘rocky’ and is in reference to the dry stone walls that form the terraces of this plot. In times gone by those who traversed the plot would often be heard to say “On est à l’Enfer”, ’We are in hell’, in reference to the intense heat one would be made to endure owing to the plots south-facing exposition and thus this is how “Les Chaillées d’Enfer” ‘ The Terraces of Hell’ comes by its name.

Ultra-ripe grapes from .08 of a hectare of vines, dating from 1957, grown on ‘La Caille’ climat are hand-harvested and vinified in small oak barrels one-quarter of which are new. The grapes were manually harvested at full maturity of 13 to 14 degrees, they were then meticulously sorted and pressed. After a static temperature-controlled must settling, the clear juice was fermented in 225-litre barriques, lasting approximately four to five weeks. It is bottled in January 15 months after the harvest. The wine was matured on its fine lees in oak barrels of which 25% were new, for 12 to 18 months, with regular bâtonnage (lees stirring) which imparted complexity and volume to the resulting wine.

Opulent, full-bodied and aromatic this is a remarkably well-balanced wine. Drunk well even in its youth, several years of aging, however, will allow it to fully reveal its charms.