La Croix de L'Espérance

AOC Lussac Saint-Emilion
Grape varieties: 100% Merlot
Soil Type: Clay-limestone plateau on limestone with some iron pan
Average age of vines: 20 years
Area under vine: 7 hectares
Vine density: 5,500 vines per hectare
Viticluture: Traditional Bordeaux pruning with two canes. Complete green cover between the vine rows. Bud thinning, leaf thinning, and green harvesting when necessary.
Winemaking: The grapes are initially sorted in the vineyard and hand-picked. They are again sorted in the cellar before and after destemming. The fruit is put into wooden vats by gravity flow. Grapes from each plot are fermented separately with manual punching down of the cap. Long maceration. Malolactic fermentation in 50% new oak barrels. The wine is aged for 16-18 months, 60% in new barrels and the rest in one wines' barrels.