Le Carré, meaning The Square, became the newest of our ‘Single Vineyard Series’ wines in 2005 These wines are made in small quantities and are based on the côtes Cru Classé land that surrounds the town of Saint Émilion The vineyard is situated next to Clos Fourtet separated by a tumble down wall We were lucky enough to purchase this vineyard from Chateau Canon, Premier Grand Cru Classé.

The vines are pruned on the double guyot system The secondary shoots are removed and two 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.

Le Carré employs similar methods to our other top wines with the addition of barrel fermentation for the Cabernet Franc (the amount being too small for vats) 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 extreme cold maceration The wines undergo malolactic fermentation in new French oak, and are barrel aged in an air conditioned cellar at 18 C.

Le Carré exemplifies the fantastic provenance of differing soils/terroirs that Saint Emilion manifests Only 400 meters separates Les Astéries and Le Carré and yet the wines are poles apart in style Le Carré is probably our chunkiest, most modern style wine.