Visits

Château Quinault
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (France)

        
 

The estate, located near the centre of Libourne, was founded in the 17th Century. Produced under the watchful eye of Alain Raynaud since 1997, with the young cellar master and enologist Maxence Dulou, the estate’s wines have been getting well-deserved attention.

Château Quinault, 2005
Very good. Dark garnet colour, pleasant and delicate nose, rich taste, slightly sharp tannins on the finish. Blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. (Jan 2007)

Lafleur de Quinault, 2003
Very good. Made from younger vines, a lighter version of Château Quinault, an accessible and pleasant wine to drink, nice garnet colour, aromas of wild berries. (Jan 2007)

Ownership & Management
Owned and run by Alain & Françoise Raynaud (since 1997). Maxence Dulou (cellar-master, enologist).
 

Vineyard
18 ha, 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec. The vines, planted on sandy and gravely soils, are about over 50 years old. Manual harvest, sorting (in the vineyard and after de-stemming), mechanical then manual de-stemming.

Winemaking
Very light crush (depending on the year), then 5-6 day cold maceration in small, parcel-specific stainless steel and wooden vats, followed by alcoholic fermentation. The malolactic fermentation takes place in new oak barrels for 2/3 of the wine and in vats for the rest. The vin de presse, which is extracted with a vertical press, is later incorporated in part in the first and second wines.

Half of the wine is aged in oak barrels, and racked every 3 months. The other half is aged on lees in oak barrels for about a year, without racking; the wine is then racked and transferred to new barrels. The wine is aged 18-24 months.

The composition of the blend is determined on a preliminary basis before aging is completed, and the wine is finally blended after the aging process. Depending on the year, the wine may be fined with egg whites and filtered before bottling.

Wines
·  Château Quinault
·  Lafleur de Quinault