Château L’Évangile: Vineyards
The estate lies at the eastern edge of the Pomerol appellation. Right next-door is Château La Conseillante, and beyond that Vieux Château Certan, which means directly north is Petrus and then Château Lafleur, a distance of just 500 metres provided you strike out directly for them, across the vineyards (perhaps not advisable without permission…although I have to confess I have walked from one property to another in this manner in Pomerol, such is its compact nature). A little further to the west is Château Petit Village. The road on which the château sits is part of the boundary line between the appellations of Pomerol and St Emilion, and thus Château Cheval Blanc, Château La Tour Figeac and, slightly more distant admittedly, Château Figeac sit just to the south.
For may years the estate had 16 hectares of vines, although following the acquisition of another 6 hectares from Dr Alain Raynaud in 2012 this figure has climbed to 22 hectares. The soils underfoot have a mix of classic Pomerol types. Some of the better portions lie at the northern end of the vineyard, the section that abuts the vines of – surprise, surprise – Petrus. Here the vines are rooted in clay soils, the same type of clay for which Petrus is rightly famous. Towards the south, there are more tracts of gravel and sand, these also being typical for Pomerol, the terraces of river deposit having been laid here in the Riss, Würm, Mindel and Günz glacial periods. Some less attractive gravelly parcels, to the south, were recently acquired, and are more likely to contribute to the second wine.
