Château Marsau

While the great terroirs are found mainly in the most prestigious appellations, equally great ones also exist, though more scattered and harder to locate, in other Bordeaux appellations. It is on one of these great terroirs that the Château Marsau vineyard lies.
A few kilometres east of Saint-Émilion near the historic village of Francs, facing Montaigne country, the vines of Château Marsau occupy one of the highest points
of the Francs Côtes de Bordeaux appellation.
There, in a setting of a few hectares, on gentle south-facing slopes, the Marsau vines sink their roots deep into the clay, which at all times ensures them perfect water regulation.
On this astonishing clay terroir, Merlot, the emblem of the Right Bank, has quite naturally established itself as the sole grape variety.
The expression of the terroir begins with work in the vineyard. At Marsau, the modest size of the vineyard allows meticulous work throughout the growing cycle, adapted to each vine: rigorous pruning and suckering, a search for optimal leaf surface, early leaf removal and thinning, removal of late grapes at the end of véraison, then harvests scheduled according to the ripeness desired for each plot. Vinifications are adapted to the specific nature of the vintage and of each plot.
The aim is to harness the natural concentration of the grape in order to faithfully extract the personality of the terroir and the grape variety. Ageing in French oak barrels is carried out in separate lots, in order to preserve to the end the identity of each cuvée. The final blend is made at the end of this twelve-month ageing period.
Thus are born Marsau, and its second wine Prélude.