Clos Puy Arnaud
A.O.C. Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
France
Alexandre Valette, Thierry’s great-grandfather, established "Les Établissements Valette" in the first half of the 20th century. The company farmed vines in Rochecorbon-Vouvray while being a grower/merchant for Fine Wines in the Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen.
It provided its services to retailers/cafe owners, canteens and collectivities, as well as a network of boutiques throughout Paris and Médoc which can be seen as precursors to modern day Coop and Nicolas shops.
Furthermore, from 1937, Alexandre invested in several wine estates situated in Languedoc and Bordeaux including Château Troplong Mondot and Pavie.
Thierry belongs to the latter's branch and acted as co-shareholder from 1979 to 1998 under his cousin Jean-Paul Valette's direction who was responsible for managing the Cru while promoting Saint-Emilion’s 1st Crus abroad.
Upon his grandmother Violette Valette's retirement, Thierry purchased Clos Puy Arnaud two years after Château Pavie's sale in 2000.
Located in the eastern continuation of Saint-Emilion, Puy Arnaud offers an extraordinary terroir situated at a height between 90 and 100 meters. The soil of the small plateau consists essentially of limestone with starfish fossils interspersed with veins from Castillon, as well as containing small amounts of predominantly clay, silt and sand.
These features have recently been honoured by the classification of its first Cru, as well as several Grands Crus. Due to its low clay content, this region has great potential when it comes to producing wines with exquisite aromas and fine tannins.
The vineyard comprises of thirty-two plots on a total area of fifteen hectares, with 65% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, 1.5% Sauvignon blanc and 1.5% Castets as its grape varieties.
An average age of thirty years has been recorded in the vineyard; while the old vines (which are fifty years old) have been planted in two meters by one meter per plant and one point five meters by one meter for the young saplings. Mass selection in situ has been conducted for Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec varieties.
At Clos Puy Arnaud they are very conscious about the environment, and for that reason, since 2001 all of their wines are biological and organic.
Discover their wines here!
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