Chateau Bernadotte in Haut-Médoc
A conducive vineyard terrain
Bernadotte is developing on a complex vineyard terrain of fine and sandy gravel and clay-limestone of great value.
What exactly is a vineyard terrain?
The vineyard terrain is a well-defined place that is characterized by the soil and the subsoil, the location, the exposure, the climate, magnified by the winemaker. An alchemy between nature and culture. The winemaker decides what culture he practices while respecting the vineyard terrain. The vineyard terrain guides the apportioning of the parcels in a way that is strategic as well as rigorous. In Bernadotte, Cabernet Sauvignon is the king and master grape of Médoc. With Merlot, the other Médoc grape variety, and Petit Verdot skilfully distributed according to a chosen parcelling plan, Bernadotte produces a noble breed of complex red wines with a great aromatic power.
Mainly made up of gravel and pebbles, the Médocian vineyard terrain is ideally located between the estuary and the ocean, well protected from the sea winds by the pine forest, making it a very privileged vineyard terrain.
Sandy and limestone elements have been deposited there since the Quaternary era, carried by rivers from the Pyrenees and the Central Massif. These elements promote rapid warming of the soil during the day. The accumulated heat is returned to the vine at night. Thus, the vine stocks are protected from thermal differences.
From Médoc in general
Magical and mysterious Médoc! From the gates of Bordeaux to the ocean, Médoc is a country in itself. It conveys the perennial and tough poetry of a land that forms men and their work, which expresses the nature of the vine and water, the grandeur and architectural fantasy of the sometimes unusual chateaus and the modesty of the estuarian tiles. The Médoc peninsula evokes complexity but also unity and balance. To think of Médoc is to imagine a wild coastline, undulating vineyard terrains as far as the eye can see, a secret world of chestnuts, cellars like dens where prestigious vintages are made. These prominent images have built the legendary representation of Médoc.
From Haut-Médoc in particular
As fragmented as the Haut-Médoc appellation may be, it is indeed the common thread for Médoc. From the gates of Bordeaux to the south, Haut-Médoc stretches from the municipalities of Blanquefort and du Taillan Médoc and is seeded as far as the towns of Vertheuil and Saint Seurin de Cadourne in the north, along or around the river and the Margaux, Moulis, Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint Estèphe appellations. The boundaries merge so much between appellations that the taste cousins sometimes offer confusing surprises.
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The wine-growing Médoc has 8 appellations:
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2 subregional appellations, Médoc and Haut-Médoc where Chateau Bernadotte is located.
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6 communal appellations: Pauillac, Listrac, Saint Estèphe, Moulis, Saint Julien, Margaux.
