Over the years, we have had the good fortune to work with some of the best (and, unfortunately, some of the last) small-scale grower-producers in Bordeaux. Our newest addition to this cadre of high caliber growers is Château Auney l’Hermitage, representing the region of Graves.
Known as Château Le Chec until 2012, when its long-time owners changed the name to Auney l’Hermitage, the estate is run by Sylvie and Christian Auney. They produce two cuvées each of red and white wine, favoring Merlot and Semillon in their respective blends. Graves Blanc and Graves Rouge are the core wines of Auney l’Hermitage, and make up the bulk of its production, while the best parcels are dedicated to their higher-end red and white “Cuvée Cana” bottlings.
Auney l’Hermitage was gradually assembled through the reclamation of ten small domaines totaling 8.5 hectares. Many of these properties were actually clearings in the woods planted to grape vines by small farmers, dating back to the nineteenth century, and were abandoned or on the verge of being abandoned. Christian Auney has chosen to maintain the separation between each of his parcels, meaning that each plot of vines has its own distinct terroir. Some of these plots were ignored for so long that they’ve never seen modern pest management (i.e. pesticides), and as of 2012 the Auneys have undertaken a conversion to certified organic practices.
This is the only estate harvesting manually in the commune of La Brède, which has always been the practice due to the separation of the parcels comprising the estate. Moreover, ripening times for each plot vary widely due to location and vine type, allowing Christian and his team to harvest over a longer period of time.
Farming
Certified organic by Ecocert since 2012
Treatments
Copper sulfate only, vines have never seen herbicide or synthetic treatments
Ploughing
Annual ploughing to maintain vineyard health
Soils
A diverse array of limestone-clay, deep gravels, and sandy soils present in the 19 scattered parcels around La Brède that make up Auney L’Hermitage
Vines
Trained in Guyot; average vine age 20 years for black varieties, 25 years for white varieties
Yields
Controlled through winter pruning and debudding, yields average 35 hl/ha
Harvest
The last producer in La Brède who still harvests by hand, usually from mid September to early October as each individual parcel reaches ideal ripeness
PURCHASING
Entirely estate fruit
Fermentation
White wines ferment with indigenous yeasts in 400-l barrels. Red wines ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless-steel tanks following total destemming.
Extraction
White wines see regular bâtonnage; red wines see punchdowns and pumpovers during fermentation.
Chaptalization
None
Pressing
Pneumatic pressing
Malolactic Fermentation
Spontaneous for red wines, in tank following alcoholic fermentation. White wines do not go through malolactic (blocked by wines’ naturally high acidity)
Élevage
White wines age for 9 months in 400-l demi-muids, with the Cana seeing 25% new oak. Red wines age 15 months in 225-l and 400-l barrels (25% new).
LEES
Wines remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling
FINING & FILTRATION
Bentonite fining if necessary, plate filtration if necessary
SULFUR
Applied after malolactic and at bottling for red wines, applied only at bottling for white wines
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