 | Having previously been strong on Merlot, under the direction of Didier Cuvelier many of the vineyards were replanted, now with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, the proportion of the latter variety more than doubled, from 30% to its current figure of 65% (35 hectares), the balance being 25% Merlot (17 hectares), 8% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc (together 11 hectares), planted at a density of 8 500 vines/ha. The vineyard work is largely manual, with early removal of unnecessary shoots, control of yields by debudding and green harvesting, leaf stripping to improve aeration and fruit exposure, hand-pruning and hand-harvesting. Much of the work is led personally by viticultural manager Bruno Clenet, who keeps 30 vines in each plot for his own experimentation, and so that he can learn how the different plots behave. The result of all this work is a yield typically in the order of 45-50 hl/ha. The grand vin is Chateau Léoville-Poyferré (20 000 cases per annum), which goes into barrel where malolactic fermentation occurs. Typically the oak is now 75% new each year. Wines produced from the plots once belonging to the cru bourgeois estate Chateau Moulin Riche (17 000 cases per annum), which was incorporated into the Léoville-Poyferré vineyard in the early 20th Century, are vinified completely in cuve, before transfer into a mix of new and one-year-old barrels. |