vignobles dignac
Château Les Grands Sillons
Château Les Grands Sillons was bought by my great grandfather Bertrant THIBAULT in the early 1920’s. In 1973, it was inherited by his daughter and my grandmother, Colette DIGNAC.
The vineyard, whose total surface area is 2,81 hectares (6,9 acres), is made up of 3 plots, all around the estate.
Traditional crop management practices and Guyot pruning are used. The harvest is picked manually and then sorted on a sorting table. Modern techniques now came to be combined with the traditional methods of maturing the wine to keep better complexity of aromas). The wine is aged in oak barrels of 1 to 3 wines originating from french woods.
We are certified "ISO 14001 environment" and High Environmental Value (HVE). As such, we weed mechanically our plots and reason all actions.We reduce inputs and use clean products in order to respect biodiversity.
CHATEAU CÔTE DE BONDE
MONTAGNE SAINT EMILION
AOC Montagne-Saint Emilion
Château Côtes de Bonde was bought by Colette and Gilles DIGNAC in 1970.
Soil
Clayey-siliceous brows resting on limestone or clay enriched with ferrous Limestone soil plateau, limestone-clay soil slopes and limestone soil in the valley The vines are partially grassed: 1 row is grassed and 1 row is used for production This technique limits the yield. It also causes the roots to grow much deeper, thus allowing the vine to better capture the char-acteristics of the terroir and reducing the extent of dilution when it rains just before harvesting. The vines are carefully de-leafed to bring more air and a maximum amount of sunlight to the bunches of grapes. The harvest is picked by hand and then sorted on a sorting table.
Vineyard
The surface area estate is about 35 hectares with woods (16 ha), meadows (5 ha) and vine-yard (14 ha).
Grape varieties
70 % Merlot 30 % Cabernet Franc
Average age of the vines : 30 years
Winemaking
The grapes are de-stemmed and crushed. The grape juice and the skins macerate with pump over twice for 15-21 days during alcoholic fermentation. The wines are tasted in order to blend them. They are aged in stainless steel vats. The wine is fined with egg whites before putting in bottle.
Tasting Notes
Nice presentation, intense purple colour with deep purple edges around the glass The nose progressively opens out to evoke leather and undergrowth with hints of coffee, chocolate and crystallized cherry On the palate, a supple attack, developing into harmonious sensations of density and very discernable tannins on the finish A wine to drink now or to keep 5-10 years.
