La Violette

All the vines grown for « La Violette » of Château Manoir du Gravoux are planted on a clay-limestone plateau which is an ideal location, thus offering favourable vine growing conditions and producing fleshy, fruity wines, with great character. Among the vines of this plateau, 2 hectares were planted in 1958 and, being remarkably well-exposed, they produce, naturally, grapes with a complex and intense aromatic expression. These bunches of grapes are kept separate during the harvest, before a careful vinification, followed by a 12 months maturation in barrel, which respects the complexity of our fruit and the fine hints of violet.

Ownership : Philippe EMILE

Location : Saint-Genès de Castillon

A.O.C. : Côtes de Castillon

Production : 9 000 Bottles

Surface : 2 ha

Geology : Clay-limestone plateau

Vineyard exposure : North - South

Draining : Natural draining by the slopes

Grape varieties : 92% Merlot / 8% Cabernet Franc

Average age of the vineyard : 45 years old

Pruning : Simple Guyot - double Guyot is being introduced

Plantation : 5 000 vinestocks per hectare

Work on the soil : Grassing every 2 rows, ploughing every 2 rows, no chemical weedkillers

Fertilizer : Adjusted supply of organic manure at the end of the winter

Vine protection : “Measured protection�? which involves assessing and treating the vine according to the stage of the vegetative growth and the threat of diseases

Green works : Removal of new branches + de-budding + topping and trimming + leaf removal

Date of the harvest : Established by regular tasting of the berries, parcel by parcel

Harvesting : Machine

Work on the grapes : Berry-sorting table + total de-stemming (6 to 8 workers)

Vats : Stainless steel (100 hl)

Vinification : Parcel-based, extraction by separate pumping-overs, followed by a “délestage�?

Vatting time : 30 days

Fermentation temperature : 28-30°C

Press techniques : Separate maturation

Malolactic fermentation : 100% in barrel

Maturation : 12 months, in barrel, with little racking

Filtration : Loose filtration to respect the structure of the wine

Bottling preparation : Low sulphiting

Bottling : Château