Terroir and Vineyard

Chateau Carbonnieux is labeled HEV (High Environmental Value).
A quarter of the vineyard follows an ORGANIC program, the rest is cultivated in sustainable agriculture(chemical insecticides, weed-killers and acaricides are banned and replaced by environmentally friendly methods that respect biodiversity and allow the vine plant to stimulate its own natural defences - BIOCONTROL method)
Moreover, Château Carbonnieux is a member of the first, ISO 14001 certified, EMS (Environmental Management System) Association of Bordeaux wine.
The entire personnel of Château Carbonnieux are involved in this eco-responsible strategy.
• From the offices to the vines, all waste produced on the estate are sorted and recycled.
• Consumption management (water, electricity,...)
• Maintenance of forest surroundings and hedges to preserve biodiversity.
• Annual planting of trees.
• Permanent supervision of the vineyard in order to treat each plot according to its specific requirements (weather station set up in the vineyard).
• Return to ploughing and "traditional" work on the soil.
• Release of pheromones to create sexual confusion (has enabled to do away with insecticides for 20 years).
• Seasonal manual work (de-budding, leaf removal, green harvesting, grape picking...) strengthens the branches of each vine-stock, limit tractor CO2 emissions and naturally prevent any rot from beginning.
• Only natural, organic and mineral fertilizers to compensate for everything the plant consumes during its growth cycle…
• Plots of floral fallow plants for replanting to sustain small fauna on the estate , particularly bees.
• Selected fallow plants to be used as natural fertilizers after decomposition in the soil.
• . . .

Resulting from a rich geological past, the Garonne or Günzienne gravel outcrop of Château Carbonnieux has been home to vines for over seven centuries. For over seven centuries the vine has dug its roots and shaped the sub-soil of this domain.

A Rich Geological Inheritance

At the end of the tertiary and beginning of the quarternary era , in the middle of the Pyrenean uplift, the Garonne river and its tributaries carried along the left bank from the south-east of Langon to Bordeaux large quantities of stony alluvium mixed with sand , silt and clay. Over geological time these stones known as gravel (graves) were deposited on the river slopes forming several layers of terraces about 15 kilometers wide. Two types of gravel covered the layers of sedimentary limestone:the Pyrenean sandy clay gravel at the end of the tertiary era and the Günz Garonne gravel of the quaternary era. The vine growing region south of Bordeaux gets its name from these.

A Unique Gravel Outcrop

The specific morphology of the outcrop making up the Château Carbonnieux terroir can be explained by the runoff that removed the gravel layer deposited on four faces during the Quaternary era. A cap of massive gravel, that was relatively unaffected by erosion, today occupies the top of a strongly eroded gravel terrace. The edge of the Carbonnieux gravel terrace consists of a belt of sandy gravel soils that moved due to the runoff. Its slope, close to the main drainage axis, consists of a resurgence of the tertiary clay-limestone substratum, sometimes covered by migrant sands. The south-west of the estate is original in that a tongue of Landes sands blown in by the wind was deposited on the limestone base. The outcrop and its appendages are drained thanks to many drainage pathways. This natural drainage of the soil ensures good water stress of the vineyard in the ripening phase.

The Chateau Carbonnieux terroir is remarkable for its structure and the diversity of its soils. This is a fact that has been confirmed following a study of the soils’ resistivity as well as localised soil tests. As a result a new precise geological map of the entire domain was drawn up. The variable constitution of the soils of Carbonnieux make it possible to create multiple plots of land, each equally rich and complex .
• clay and gravel
• gravel ( more or less deep, more or less massive)
• clay and limestone
• sand and gravel
• argillaceous vein
• limestone vein At Carbonnieux, each plot has a name which gives it a unique identity and guarantees it special attention and personalised care adapted to suit its particular pedological, agrological and ampelographic characteristics.

The selection of grape varieties suited to soil types has been an integral part of the special winemaking culture of Château Carbonnieux for centuries. The implantation of each red and white variety is considered carefully so that each plant can flourish in the soil by drawing on the elements that will allow it to reveal its greatest aromatic finesse.
55 hectares planted with red grape varieties:
• Cabernet Sauvignon (50%) expresses terroirs of deep and massive gravel.
• Merlot (40%) is planted in fine gravel and clay soils.
• Cabernet franc (5%) is planted in clay-limestone soils covered with fine gravel, like Petit Verdot (5%)
Average age of the red vineyard : 26 years

45 hectares planted with white varieties :
• Sauvignon blanc (68%) dominates on deep gravel soils, and, in order to lend greater expression to the wine, it is also planted in fine gravel and in clay-limestone soils.
• Sémillon (30%) is planted only in clay-limestone soils, lending the wine fleshiness and complex aromas.
• Sauvignon gris (2%), a young plantation, should find its best expression in clay-limestone soil.
Average age of the white vineyard : 30 years