The Human Aspect
Cherish the terroir

Fascinated by the quality of the terroirs at Larcis Ducasse, we look after them in as many different ways as they themselves have nuances. From spring to harvest, the soil is maintained by gentle harrowing or shallow ploughing. In the autumn, the vines are either ploughed in order to encourage aeration of the soil by the winter rains or planted with cereals to limit erosion, encourage the microbiological life of the soil and care for its structure. Manure made from composted cow dung is spread every year in the autumn in order to preserve the fertility of the soils.

Nicolas Thienpont’s other sites
Château Pavie Macquin
Château Larcis Ducasse
Château Bellevue
Château Les Charmes Godard
Château Puygueraud
Château La Prade
  Growing the vine

Choosing the right grape variety for the soil, controlling vigour and yield and combating parasitic attacks; all play a part in the search for balance and quality. The vineyard of Larcis Ducasse is planted with 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon at a density of 6000 vines per hectare. With an average age of 35 years, the vines are continuously renewed over a period of 80 years or so, with particular care paid to the soils and their drainage as well as careful selection of clones and rootstocks, which are planted at a density of 7500 vines per hectare.
  Every year, there are numerous manual interventions in the vineyard with pruning, de-budding and green harvesting to space out and regularise the production, while leaf-thinning and the removal of lateral buds protect and stabilise the immediate environment of the grapes. Treatments against disease are carefully managed with special regard to the natural balance of the vineyard.


Making and aging the wine

As the harvest approaches, each parcel is checked twice weekly and the grapes are tasted to determine their maturity. Once the grapes have attained both phenolic maturity and freshness of flavour, the pickers arrive. Selection is carried out both in the vineyard and in the cellar in order to weed out any berries that are less than ripe. After destalking (but without crushing or pumping) the whole berries are fed into the tanks by gravity, always keeping both parcels and varieties separate from one another. The quality of the future wine is already decided.

Using wild yeasts, the alcoholic fermentation starts naturally after between twenty-four and seventy-two hours and the juice of the grapes will ferment over the course of nine to fifteen days. The cap of pomace which forms on the wine will be left to macerate for between three and four weeks during which time pump-overs allow us to gently extract colour, aroma and tannins. After this maceration, the wine is run-off into barrels, of which 60% are new. The malolactic fermentation takes place in its own time between November and March. If necessary, we undertake lees-stirring to add richness and fat to the wine.
The first racking of the wine takes place after six to nine months, before the summer. After two winters, and eighteen months on its lees, the wine is stabilised and ready to be bottled. During these eighteen months of aging, it is constant tasting of the wine which guides us and enables us to maximise the terroirs from which it comes, revealing itself as subtle, harmonious and elegant with great body, smoothness and fruit.
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