Pauillac

From the dawn of time until the dawn of the 20th century, Pauillac had a flourishing port activity due to its privileged location on the banks of the river, halfway between the mouth of the Gironde and Bordeaux. Numerous ships stopped here before sailing to Bordeaux or to the sea. Nowadays, the means of transport having upset everything, "what remains are the testimonies and the memories", as Bernard Ginestet wrote in his book on Pauillac.

Except that the gathering of tall ships will have left its mark on the minds of the youngest inhabitants of Gironde. In 1991, they sailed with Russian ships in the port. And, what the heck, sailing enthusiasts still know how to stop in its port to combine the pleasures of water with that of wine! It is true that this marriage is not always in good taste... It is said that a bishop of Bordeaux, having lunch at Rothschild's, had the clumsiness to add pure water to the wine. The Baron, appalled, said to him: "But, Monseigneur, you are cutting the wine", "No way", replied the bishop, "I am baptizing it". The presence of the vineyard goes back to the end of the Middle Ages. This one extended step by step during the following centuries. But it is with the advent of large estates at the beginning of the 17th century and then during the 18th and 19th centuries that it took on the importance that we know.

The commune of Pauillac is separated from that of Saint-Estèphe, to the north, by the marshy area of the Jalle du Breuil and from that of Saint-Julien, to the south, by the small valley of the Juillac stream.

It is composed of gravelly hilltops to the north and south, separated in part by the Pibran marsh. Their exceptional shape characterizes this terroir of more or less sandy Garonne gravel, and therefore well drained. Poor soils par excellence, unsuitable for any kind of cultivation, they are the basis of the opulence and quintessence of the wines of this appellation.

The subsoil is most often constituted by alios, generally quite deep, allowing a good drainage and a good rooting of the vine. Sometimes, it is made up of marl more or less calcareous. On the banks of the Gironde, there are still some marshy areas or meadows on recent alluvial soils. The hilltops are made up of gravel that is more or less sandy but well drained, perfectly suited to the cultivation of vines.