The winegrower does everything possible to improve yield, flavour, disease resistance and proper development of the vines. This may involve clonal selection, however care must be taken, as this can be counter-productive in certain instances. Cloning can make vines more disease-sensitive and usually necessitates more work in the vineyard to ensure a healthy crop.
Vines can reach as much as hundred years, depending on the grape variety, though yields drop considerably with age. At Chateau Carsin, we go on the assumption that Sauvignon Blanc needs to be replanted every thirty years, whereas Semillon is often healthy, and producing a good crop, even when sixty years old.
When planting a vineyard, the winegrower has many factors to consider. For example, he may decide to use various clones as well as several different rootstocks. This means that all the vines will not be so vulnerable if some catastrophe should hit the vineyard. When selecting rootstocks, the grower takes the yield and vigour of the vine into account.
WHITE WINES
Semillion
This is the grape variety which has historically produced the great sweet wines of Bordeaux. The Premières Côtes de Bordeaux region produces sweet wines just as do its more famous neighbours, Sauternes and Barsac. In this way Chateau Carsin's sweet wines are classified with the region's own appellation. However, for the dry whites there simply is no local appellation, which means that they are classified under the common Appellation Bordeaux Contrôlée, just like the dry whites of several Mèdoc properties.
Semillon is the main grape variety used at Carsin. When young, Semillon can resemble Sauvignon Blanc with its fresh, acidic and crisp characteristics. With bottle ageing, wines made from Semillon lose their green tones and become fatter, rounder and more fleshy. This variety also gives wines finesse and elegance, the quality elements it is traditionally known for. Semillon is apt to rot easily because it has large berries and thin skins. The variety produces fine perfumed wines with subtle aromas if well produced. The wines can have good body and high alcohol content if the fruit is allowed to ripen fully.
The amount of Sauvignon Blanc in Carsin white wines varies. Normally, it is between 10 and 40 percent of the blend. This depends both on the characteristics of the wines and on the yields of the vineyards.
Sauvignon Blanc ripens earlier than Semillon and it has higher natural sugar and acidity levels. This helps the grower spread out picking at harvest time. Sauvignon Blanc grapes are small and hard and are formed in tight bunches.
Wines made from Sauvignon Blanc are often intensely aromatic. In some cases they have tropical fruit characters and in others, greener notes. Compared to a single-variety Semillon wine, one with a proportion of Sauvignon Blanc will have more personality.
Half of the new white wine plantings at Carsin are Sauvignon Blanc. We have also made some wines made entirely from Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Gris is an old and traditional "variety" which has been used for a long time in our region. It had at one point, however, become nearly obsolete. Even today, there are only ten to twenty growers of Sauvignon Gris in Bordeaux.
The grapes are coloured pink or grey, like the grapes of Pinot Gris. The fruit tends to mature very early and have a very high sugar level. There is less risk of rotting since the skins are very thick. The main drawback of Sauvignon Gris is its low yield - at best we expect yields as low as 40 Hl /Ha. We are currently only yielding 25 Hl/Ha.
The wines produced with Sauvignon Gris are less aromatic than those produced from Sauvignon Blanc. They are characterized by the aromas of crushed blackberry leaves and more perfumed characters. The acidity level is good and the wines have a very good concentration of flavours. We have 3 hectares of Sauvignon Gris, and more will be planted.
At Château Carsin, we believe that the revival of Sauvignon Gris will attract interest in the wine amateurs and therefore we feel it is also a good marketing point to include it in our blend.
RED WINES
Merlot
In the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux the topsoil is often rich in clay. This is ideal for Merlot since the clay soils give depth of flavour to this grape variety. Further, Merlot ripens easily and early, and so the fact that this is a colder soil type is not a problem.
Merlot matures before the two Cabernets and it has large berries and rather thin skins. It produces dark coloured wines which soften relatively quickly. Such wines are also fleshy and fat in style, meaty and plummy - in short, easy to drink.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape in the Mèdoc region of Bordeaux. There it produces tannic, long lasting, powerful wines from small, thick skinned berries. This variety ripens slowly - each year it is the last to be harvested. Cabernet Sauvignon is also slow to mature in the bottle - it really needs patience from the consumer.
Cabernet Sauvignon is less prone to diseases and rot than many other varieties. But like them, it does need good growing conditions right up to harvest time in order to attain its full potential. In the Premières Côtes region it is not regarded as the main grape variety. Rather it is one which gives structure and backbone to a wine. We only have very limited amount of Cabernet Sauvignon at Carsin, as we wish to make wines that are easy to access and have balanced fruit, tannin and oak. Large quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon would give us astringent and tightly structured wines which need longer to become mellow. Cabernet Sauvignon is less prone to diseases and rot than many other varieties. But like them, it does need good growing conditions right up to harvest time in order to attain its full potential. In the Premières Côtes region it is not regarded as the main grape variety. Rather it is one which gives structure and backbone to a wine. We are not very interested in planting Cabernet Sauvignon at Carsin, as we are making wines that are easy to drink and have balanced fruit, tannin and oak. Cabernet Sauvignon would give us astringent and tightly structured wines which need longer to become mellow.
Cabernet Franc is regarded as the "little brother" of Cabernet Sauvignon. It ripens earlier and produces a similar style of wine. Its aromas are a little less intense and complex but it gives a wine good weight on the middle palate. Where Cabernet Sauvignon is closely associated with a definite cassis-style aroma, Cabernet Franc will produce "boiled cabbage", broccoli and green vegetable aromas when the wine matures.
Petit Verdot
Petit Verdot is very rare as a grape variety in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux. It is mostly used as a marginal blending partner in the Medoc and in other areas of Bordeaux with gravely soils. We wanted to plant an experimental plot of Petit Verdot in one of our more sandy soiled parcels and the first proper vintage will be in 2008.
Carmenere
We have also planted a third of a hectare of Carmenere on perhaps the warmest parcel with good gravely soil. It will be interesting to see if we could get this rare grape variety to ripen in the Premières Côtes. Carmenere is an old variety of the Medoc which has lately become famous in Chile where it produces structured and spicy wines of high quality.
Malbec
We also have two small parcels of Malbec in production. The parcels make up less than half a hectare of vineyard. We are very fond of our Malbecs, though, since they give a nice full-flavoured spicy character to our wines. If the year is a good one, we will blend our Malbecs with some other grape varieties to make our "Cuvée Privée Rouge"
