Château La Serre
Grand Cru Classé
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé
OwnerLuc d’Arfeuille
Vineyard size7 hectares (17.2 acres)
Vineyard grape varietals80% Merlot – 20% Cabernet Franc
Soil typesClay on limestone plateau
This 7 hectare vineyard is situated along the edge of Saint-Émilion’s famous limestone terrace, just a few dozen meters from the center of this medieval town. The vineyard is planted on a south-facing limestone plateau (hence its name, “the greenhouse”) covered with a thin layer of clay and averages 35 years of age.
M. d’Arfeuille, the estate’s passionate owner, favors a traditional approach in both the vineyard and the winery and his methods ensure that this exceptional terroir is perfectly expressed in his wines. The soil is tilled manually to avoid the use of herbicides, and vineyard work is kept to the minimum to allow the vineyard’s natural character to shine through. Traditional interventions such as pruning and disbudding suffice to control yields.
In the cellar, the grapes are sorted optically and undergo a pre-fermentary cold maceration in order to allow only the purest expression of this privileged terroir. Fermentation takes place in concrete and stainless steel vats and aging in French oak barrels, of which 50% are renewed every year.
M. d’Arfeuille and his team seek balance in all aspects of winemaking, pursuing the legendary elegance of the wines that have been produced on this historic land for centuries. The wines of Château La Serre are deep and generous with a streak of minerality.