Know-How

The environnement, a core concern for the Castéja family

The Chateau du Domaine de l’Eglise (Pomerol) vineyard has been HVE 3 certified since April 2021. For several years now, the vineyards of Château du Domaine de l’Eglise have been managed according to the principles of sustainable agriculture, limiting the use of chemicals to what is strictly necessary.

The soil is worked and the vines are treated as naturally as possible to respect the environment and its ecosystem. Full-scale weeding using chemical products has been banned for over 15 years, so the Château team favours “mechanical weeding” as a complement to chemical control.

Well-tended vines

In winter, we use Poussard pruning to combat wood diseases and encourage the proper circulation of sap. At the same time, the soil is worked to encourage the vine’s development. In spring, it’s time to remove the “gourmands”, the shoots that grow on the trunk of the vine stock and don’t bear any grapes. Removing these branches helps to aerate the vine and reduce the risk of disease.

The Château’s team then takes care of the “échardage”, i.e. the removal of the internodes on the vine, to aerate the bunches of grapes. During the summer, leaf thinning continues to aerate the grapes and prevent certain diseases. Shortly before the harvest, we thin the vines to help the grapes ripen. The harvest, which begins when the grapes are fully ripe, is carried out by hand during September-October. The Merlot grapes are picked first, followed by the Cabernet Franc. They are then destemmed and sorted by hand on a sorting table, before being placed in vats.

Rigourous wine-making

The wine-making process at Château du Domaine de l’Église is carried out under the same conditions as at Château Trotte-Vieille. After the harvest, the grapes are crushed and then placed in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. In total, the vatting period lasts around 4 weeks. It begins with pre-fermentation maceration, which lasts a few days to bring out the aromas; then alcoholic fermentation to transform the sugar into alcohol. Depending on the vintage, there may be a post-fermentation hot maceration to refine the tannins.

The wine is then extracted by running off and pressing, which separates the liquid (juice) from the solid parts (skins, pips). Vatting finishes with malolactic fermentation in barrels and vats, which transforms malic acid into lactic acid to make the wine more supple and stable.

Optimal ageing

After manual harvesting and traditional vinification, the wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 60% of which are renewed each year. The wines are clarified by fining with egg albumin, then racked every 3 to 4 months according to tasting.

When ageing is considered optimal, the wine is blended.
then bottled.