Owned by the Amoreau family since 1610, Château Le Puy overlooks the Dordogne valley on the same plateau as Saint-Emilion and Pommerol. The Château was originally built at the begining of the 17th century and later extended in 1832 by Barthélemy Amoreau. It’s common to find some sharpened flints between the vines as some parts were battlefields in times past. Now on their 15th generation of winemakers, the methods used at Le Puy are reminiscent of those used in the 1940s, with great respect of the terroir. They work using biodynamic principles, no chemicals on the soil, low yields, no yeasting nor chaptalization, long aging and very low added sulfites. These practices then allow the Amoreau family to express the full character of the terroir and to produce incredible wines that will be able to age for decades. The vineyards are planted to a number of red varieties, including Merlot (85%), Cabernet Sauvignon (6%), Cabernet Franc (7%), along with a touch of Malbec and Carmenère. The soil type varies but is principally a mix of clay, silex and limestone, with very high acidity levels. The average age of the vines is 50 years and no synthetic treatments have ever been used at the estate, which is certified biodynamic. Harvest is manual, the grapes are entirely destemmed and the cuvaison is long, continuing for two to four weeks. Only indigenous yeast is utilized, no chapitalisation is done nor is SO2 used during the fermentation.
