"The vine and the wine are great mysteries. Only in the vegetable kingdom, the vine makes us understand what is the true flavor of the earth."

This beautiful quote by Colette fully summarizes the "philosophy" of the owners of Château La Serre. It is indeed about expressing, while respecting, the land, in this case the magnificent soil of the very recognized limestone plateau of Saint-Emilion.

Respect the earth ...

A terroir is first and foremost a soil that must be worked with care, in order to preserve its ancestral attributes. So the maintenance of the soil of the property has progressively evolved during the last years. It is now exclusively mechanical under the rank. The main benefit of this practice is the non-use of chemical processes that can have negative effects on living elements of the soil.

It is also to intervene as little as possible on the vine to maintain its natural character. Traditional interventions (pruning, disbudding, etc.) are generally sufficient to contain yields within the desired limits. Thinning is only a last resort, in the event of late maturation, on certain plots.

 

... to reveal its soul

Winemaking is an art transmitted in the family of Luc d'Arfeuille. It is constantly enriched with knowledge and new technologies that science offers to winemakers on the advice of oenologist Stephane Toutoundji.

Cold pre-fermentation or, more recently, laser optical sorting, are all new tools that allow optimal grain selection and better extraction, in order to create a wine that reveals above all the typicality of this terroir.
The extraction is measured by the intrinsic possibilities of the vintage. The balance thus obtained is supported by a carefully metered passage in barrels. A maturation of 15 to 18 months in barrels, renewed very widely each year, makes it possible to obtain an ideally melted wood.

Expressing this terroir is the most faithful reproduction of the natural elegance of the wines produced for centuries on this earth.

"It is with passion that we follow the evolution of wine, which must always remain for us a wine of terroir and pleasure." Luc d'Arfeuille