Chateau Bernateau 2019 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 《WC Selection -F332C》

⭐️Certification AB - Agriculture Biologique

⭐️Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Château Bernateau is just outside of the village of Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse. This is the eastern part of Saint Emilion, about 10-15 minutes’ drive from the medieval and very pretty town of Saint Emilion. The chateau owners are Pierrick and Karen Lavau. Pierrick is the winemaker and from the estate’s 7.5 hectares he aims at both the highest possible quality and personal character. The famous right bank limestone helps. “It gives a certain saltiness, a freshness to the wines”, says Pierrick. His vineyard is mostly planted with Merlot, a grape that thrives on clay and limestone. Cabernet Sauvignon, on the other hand, prefers the gravelly soil of Médoc.

Pierrick stresses the importance of terroir. “Being organic is one way of enhancing the terroir style of the wine”, he says. Pierrick and Karen started out being sustainable and chose to go organic in 2007. They started the certification process in 2009 and are certified since the vintage 2012 which was put on the market in 2014.

“Organic is a good way for me to maintain quality”, says Pierrick. “To leave the grass growing in the vineyard is very good when you have clay. A soil covered with grass is not compact.” But in spring sometimes he cuts the grass. The vines need energy to grow, he says, and cannot always cope with the competition from the grass.

In the respect of the environment, as proved by the organic growing certification obtained in 2012, the Chateau Bernateau expresses then in each vintage all the fineness, the elegance and the strength of the terroir.