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Terroir

A garden
nestling among
the Bordeaux Châteaux

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To create a garden
it takes a patch of land and a whole lifetime.

This is a part of the world where grapes are seen to thrive.
In the great atlas of major wine regions, some appellations reach extraordinary heights, far surpassing simple renown. Saint-Emilion is one such vineyard.

Perched on top of a small hill to the west of Saint-Emilion,
the former presbytery offers panoramic views over an area that Unesco described in 1993 as ‘an outstanding example of a historic vineyard landscape that has survived intact.’

Clos Saint-Martin is a supreme example.

Spanning a modest
1.36 hectare plot,
Clos Saint-Martin is one of Saint-Emilion’s
smallest cru classé vineyards.

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Taking care to preserve this outstanding natural terroir, owner, Sophie Fourcade-Rieffers and her team have sought new alternatives, while at the same time drawing from the lessons of the past, or sometimes even accepting that starting over is the only answer.

And while some may consider its relatively modest size to be a disadvantage, Sophie would argue the reverse is true; that being small is precisely how the vines are tended in a way that would be impossible anywhere else, and in so doing elevating the vineyard to the very pinnacle of the appellation. 

“Here it is more like gardening than farming.
That’s it basically.”

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“Clos Saint-Martin
is our family home above the winery,
and the vines are in fact a natural continuation
of the garden.

When my children tease me for watching over
the wine like a mother hen,
while in some respects they are not wrong, I am also very aware how much 
I owe to Nature.”

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