86 Pomerol AC 2004
Château Thibeaud-Maillet

Grape:90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc (13% alc.)

Thibeaud-Maillet is a real jewel. A tiny 1.5 hectare estate, the 26-48 year old vines are planted in a sandy, gravelly alluvial soil, which overlies Tertiary clay. The wines from this estate have a subtle, teasing, complex fruit with a silky delivery on the palate. For drinking now to 2014.

Technical Information
Winemaker:	David Arté (vineyard owned by Andrée et Roger Duroux)
Location:	Maillet, nr Pomerol
Size of domaine:	1.70 hectares
Grape:	90% Merlot,10% Cabernet Franc (25 yrs-46 years old). 6,600 vines per hectare trained single guyot.
Terroir:	50 centimetres to 1 mtr of sandy-gravelly soil on an alluvial terrace overlying a 10 metre deep layer of Tertiary clay.
Viticulture:	The vines are butted up with soil over the winter and then de-butted in spring. Pruned to 6 buds per vine. Soil ploughed. Eclaircissage of young shoots and manual pruning. Vendanges en verts if necessary. Carry out leaf thinning in August for better aeration and exposure of the grape bunch. Table de trie used at end of each row and also back in the cave. 45 hectos per hectare yield.
Vinification:	Destalked 100%. Pre-maceration à froid for 3 days at 12°C. Vinification in temperature controlled stainless steel. Cerevisac yeasts used, chaptalisation rarely necessary. 2 remontages a day with 1 delestage in the middle. 4 week cuvaison. Pressed by pneumatic press. Afterwards transferred to oak for an average 12 months in new and 1 year old barrels. Malos completed in oak. The press wine is kept apart and sometimes added back later. Rack every 3 months during elevage (barrel by barrel, use air pressure rather than pump). Assembled and cuve aged for another 4 months. The wine is fined with egg-white but not filtered. 10,000 bottles produced.
Press:

 

qty (bottles)

exc vat: £22.98