The Winery
An exceptional terroir
An Authentic Winery, Anchored in Tradition and Respect for the Planet
Château d’Anvichar is perched on Saint-Emilion’s plateau extension. The complexity of our limestone and clay soils confers elegance and depth to our merlots and cabernet francs. Our vines average thirty-five years of age. After purchasing vines which historically were part of the domain, we now have more than three hectares of merlot, almost one and a half hectares of cabernet franc, with one hectare being replanted. Cabernet franc will add spicy notes and velvety tannins to our wines. We are working on bringing you a white wine in the future.
Honor the Terroir. Respect the Planet.
Our property is the site where every step of the winemaking process occurs, from cultivating the vines through bottling. The wine leaves here only to join your cellar, table, wine shop or restaurant.
An organic winery
We are dedicated to eco-responsible production, from the vines to the chai, from vinification until bottling. We thus stopped chemical weed eradication, instead prioritizing microbial activity in our soils and responsible use of water in the chai. Our bottles are lighter, and our packing reduced to strict minimums, as much as we can. We are certified organic.
The Vines of the Domain
Our vines are planted on the limestone plateau characteristic of Saint-Emilion, all posed on a thin layer of clay.
The altitude of the winery, along with the age and vigor of its vines’ root structure, mitigate somewhat climate change’s impact. In the face of this challenge, we planted cabernet franc, a historic varietal of our region, and one we believe better suited to the current climate realities. These small plants will join the thirty-five-year-old cabernet francs which we recently reincorporated into the domain.
A Certified Organic Winery
Being organic is a passion full of detail. We deter ravaging insects using nature’s arsenal. Everything is a question of balance and responsibly interacting with the ecosystem. To further biodiversity, we planted hedges to attract the predators of insects that otherwise would harm our grapes and vines, avoiding pesticides. Each of these precise details helped us gain Organic certification.
Harvest Approaches
Weather conditions play a crucial role in choices like managing leaf cover, creating light windows and organic treatments, from pruning until harvest. As autumn approaches, we listen carefully to our grapes, as they mature, to choose the specific date of harvest.
Vinification and Aging
After harvest and sorting, the grapes are guided to our stainless-steel temperature-controlled vats and kept chilled for several days. Alcoholic fermentation then may start. We extract by alternating between “ramontages,” or pumping the juice over the “chapeau” or the skins and seeds, and breaking apart the chapeau by hand. Our wines spend a bit more than 28 days in the vats, before they’re removed. We press the skins and seeds (the “marc”) gently in a horizontal pneumatic pressoir, or wine press, one time. Our pressed juice is separated from the original juice. Malolactic fermentation then may commence.
We age our wines partly in French oak barrels and terra cotta amphorae. To preserve the freshness and fruitiness of our wines, we use different barrel coopers, prioritizing lighter toasting. For the same reason, we also use a mix of barrels that have held our wine previously, depending on the structure of each vintage, to favor a micro-oxidization adapted to each vintage
Assembling and Bottling the Wine
Once the wine matures, we assemble the individual lots into the final wine. This delicate operation consists of nuanced proportions of each of the lots (barrels by different coopers, amphorae large and small). Our goal is a unified wine that is balanced and elegant, with a presence worthy of our appellation, our terroir and, above all, our clients.
Bottling takes place a few steps from the chai. The bottles are labeled and placed in wood crates or eco-friendly cardboard boxes on site as well.
Crédit photos @ Claude Clin Photographe
Towards the Future
Every vintage is a new story, influenced and inspired by observations gathered over time. Our soils nourish our plants. We seed between the rows, choosing plants that replenish the soil and any imbalance in the vines.
Thanks to well-tended soils and adaptive cultivation methods, our vines are better prepared for water shortages.
Community Oriented
Community Engagement
One must give to belong. We are proud to be the winery partner of Berkeley Global Society, an international foundation of attorneys educated at Berkeley. We are honored to be a sponsor of the OCBA Charitable Fund Raise Your Glass annual Raise Your Glass event. We also support Friends of the Organ in Castillon, whose goal is to construct an organ in the St Symphorien church at Castillon-La-Bataille, which will be the foundation of concerts and non-denominational festivals, to attract travelers to the beautiful town on the banks of the Dordogne river. We also support local schools with the goal of contributing to the development of our young neighbors.
Berkeley Global Society‘s goal is the articulation of know-how, intelligence and human capital. BGS imagines, incubates and inspires, disseminating innovative analysis from around the world.
The Friends of the Organs of Castillon-la-Bataille Association was founded with the goal of building a custom-made pipe organ for the gallery of Saint-Symphorien Church in Castillon-la-Bataille.
