Château Lespault-Martillac

It is no exaggeration to say that Lespault-Martillac has a great terroir. First of all, its elevation provides very good water balance, with excellent nature drainage for surface runoff. And there’s a fairy thick layer of gravel, 80 cm to 1.50 m deep, overlaying a mixture of clay and gravel. This deep subsoil is very cool and, despite the vineyard’s excellent natural drainage, there are no worries about suffering from drought conditions!

Some parts of Martillac with clay outcrops produce wines that are somewhat rustic, while the clay influence in other low-lying plots is conducive to excessive coolness in the soil. Fortunately, Lespault-Martillac has neither of these flaws thanks to its elevation and the deepness of its layer of clay.

Merlot predominates on this fine, rather warm and early maturing terroir. Moreover, it is propitious to numerous combinations of grape varieties… For instance, it would be possible to significantly increase the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon to be more in keeping with the norm for the appellation. However, I feel that the existing mix of grape varieties results in a remarkably charming expression of the terroir that I like very much.

The vineyard consists of eight hectares in a single block, including one of white wine grapes. It is cultivated like a garden, with the same care and attention as at Domaine de Chevalier… Weed killers and chemical fertilisers are banished, the soil is ploughed, and the only fertiliser is natural compost. The vineyard is protected from insect pests such as grape worms by organic methods such as mating disruption. We adapt vineyard management to each individual plot, taking into account even the tiniest variations in terroir as well as the weather conditions in each vintage. We contribute a great deal of experience and added value to the crop, especially in difficult years. I can honestly say that very few estates lavish as much care and attention as we do… 

The harvest at Lespault-Martillac is typical of our very demanding standards: no machines are used, of course, and white wine grape grapes are picked individually at peak ripeness in several passes. The red wine grapes are first sorted in the vineyard and then at the cellar on two sorting tables.

The newly-renovated cellar at Lespault-Martillac was designed for winemaking on a par with the greatest estates in Bordeaux. That is because the terroir deserves it! We introduced small 60 and 80 hectolitre vats filled by gravity flow in order to fine tune the final blend to reflect our vineyard management system. Extraction is adapted to the characteristics of the vintage and done with utmost care to respect the purity of the fruit…

At Lespault-Martillac, like at Chevalier, the white wine is fermented entirely in barrel on its lees, with regular bâtonnage (stirring with a stick). Our priority for the red wine is to maintain the grapes whole and unbruised, especially the skins, which are extremely important to the quality of the tannic texture. Pumping over and pigeage (punching down the cap) are done manually. I would like to point out that the red wine is also aged on the lees for the first few months…

 People often compare Domaine de Chevalier to a great Médoc because of its tannic backbone, straightforwardness, and remarkable elegance. Lespault-Martillac’s style, on the other hand, is much more immediately charming, with natural silkiness and a smooth, generous, almost opulent side.  This great terroir, with its old Merlot vines, has the ability to produce superb feminine wines. I would very much like to emphasise this aspect and bring out what I’ll call the wine’s slightly Pomerol character…

After conducting a number of experiments, we know that we need not worry about anything rustic in the wine, as opposed to those from certain other parts of the appellation, especially when the grapes are not entirely ripe. In any event, we make sure not to over-extract in order to maintain balance – the cornerstone of our winemaking philosophy. We aim above all to bring out the wine’s intrinsic finesse, power, and complexity, as well as its voluptuousness and violet aromas…

Blessed with this beautiful terroir and its enormous possibilities, it is definitely tempting to give oneself free reign and not feel hemmed in by a strictly traditional approach… Why not try cold soaking a beautiful vat of Merlot or ageing a small lot of wine in heavily toasted barrels? Yes, I admit I’m inclined to define the wine’s personality differently, but not to excess, of course, and always in keeping with what the terroir has to say…

In keeping with this spirit, we decided to market the wine in a limited edition aesthetically-pleasing bottle based on an 18th century model. Thanks to their short capsule and modern grand cru style label with warm colours, bottles of Château Lespault-Martillac project a positive, updated image of tradition, reflecting the wine they contain.  The wine and the way it’s packaged are just as I had hoped for: attractive, joyous, and delectable… It’s true that what I aim for when I make a wine more than anything else is to provide pleasure… 

Our goal from the very start was to make great wine thanks to Lespault-Martillac’s truly outstanding terroir and its old Merlot vines with low yields of superb fruit… To take advantage of these assets, we applied the same principles that are at the heart of our winemaking philosophy at Domaine de Chevalier: traditional viticultural practices inspired by biodynamics and constant observation in the vineyard to make the best choices in light of weather conditions during the growing season. This calls for ploughing the soil and a profound respect for the terroir and the environment as evidenced by the sparing use of chemical sprays, plot-by-plot vineyard management, etc…

We also had to do something about the old cellar, abandoned for over fifty years… So we undertook a far-reaching renovation that lasted a full year and now have a perfectly-functional facility adapted to the estate’s new ambitions. We nevertheless made sure to keep the old beams and the Roman sculpture on the wall symbolising the estate’s ancient history.