A gust in the Saint-Emilion landscape.
History
Formerly called Château Couperie, the estate was bought by Marcel Dassault in 1955. The famous French aircraft manufacturer, father of the famous Falcon and Rafales, as a great wine lover, wanted to acquire a property and thus make it his standard in the French wine landscape. . He then got his hands on a property of 24 hectares in one piece. It was then that the destiny of Château Dassault changed.
Proof of the commitment of the various teams who have passed through the estate, the château has been comfortably established in the classification of Saint-Emilion wines since 1969.
Still in this desire to develop, the Dassault family will take over Château La Fleur (24 hectares) in 2002 and Château Faurie de Souchard in 2013, both direct neighbors of Dassault.
Moreover, since the 2022 vintage, Château Dassault has been able to integrate the vines of Château Faurie de Souchard, which brings the area of the estate to 39.2 hectares of vines. Today the two properties are grouped together within the company Dassault Wine Estates.
The vine and its terroir
The grape variety of Château Dassault is one of the most classic of the right bank, namely, a majority of Merlot for around 75%, added to 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The average age of the vines is around 30 years.
The chateau's objective is to increase the share of Cabernet Franc in the future in order to better adapt to the evolution of climatic conditions which are intended to be increasingly demanding, but also to give pride of place to this historic grape variety so characteristic of Saint-Emilion wines.
The exposure of the vines is mainly oriented to the north, which naturally gives the wines of Château Dassault a great freshness. The terroir is mainly composed of clay-sandy soils as well as a small proportion of clay-limestone soils.
Conscious of the importance of the ecological dimension, the teams of the castle work more and more in the respect of the environment. This is why, on a historic plot of the estate, a viticultural research and development center has been created.
On this plot, the nurseryman makes his own mass selections, which makes it possible to take maximum advantage of the assets of the terroir. Another important thing is the ecosystem around the vine. The work of the soil is done on horseback, trees are planted, you really feel the consideration that the teams have for the environment.
New ways of pruning, new ways of protecting the vines against frost, etc. are also tested there. A return to the essential basics, as the quest for quantity has taken precedence over quality.
You should know that since 2016, the castle has been certified HVE 3 (High Environmental Value level 3), which rewards the daily commitment of the castle teams.
A brand new cellar
Once the harvest time comes, these are drastic and are done manually. The selection of plots to harvest is meticulous. The berries are tasted, parcel by parcel, in order to estimate with precision what will be the optimal date for the harvest.
An essential requirement in order to bring the finest grapes to the cellar, and everything will be taken into consideration, from the skin to the pips, with the aim of maintaining a certain aromatic freshness while also maintaining a good alcohol/acidity balance, so characteristic of the castle.
Mais que serait un grand château sans un chai digne de ce nom ? Une problématique de plus en plus dans l’air du temps. Les chais sont vieillissants, et pour beaucoup, plus assez adaptés aux nouvelles problématiques. De plus, avec l’intégration des parcelles appartenant au Château Faurie de Souchard, il était devenu indispensable d’avoir un cuvier approprié.
This is why, since 2022, the château has benefited from a sublime cellar reserved for the production of the Grand Cru Classé.
The building was built around 3 main axes, inseparable from each other:
- Improved techniques for working with vats better suited to the surface area of the plots. The vinifications are therefore parcel-based, which allows for more precision in the elaboration of the wine. From vatting to barreling, everything is done by gravity (the barrel cellar is located just below). For what ? quite simply to limit the use of pumps as much as possible during pumping over.
- Energy saving. The building is very bright thanks to these large windows, which leads to a reduction in the consumption of electricity necessary to illuminate the cellar. In addition, the stainless steel vats used for vinification are temperature-controlled and double-walled, which leads to better temperature control. This has two effects, the first on the extraction of tannins which is smoother and more constant, therefore more precise, but also, once again, a reduction in energy consumption.
- An improvement in the working conditions of employees, in fact, electrical terminals with water inlets are located at the four corners of the cellar, which allows the cellar teams to carry less equipment (pipes in particular) and thus facilitates use. daily. Designed to be more ergonomic, so that the cellar master can work alone on a daily basis when before he needed the support of another person. No worries, this person is dedicated to another winery (Château La Fleur).
A strong commitment on the part of the castle, since it required a large investment, essential to the production of an exceptional wine.
Pigeage, formerly manual, is now done with a latest generation mechanical puncher. The goal? Obtain a better extraction of tannins by acting in particular with more gentleness.
Once the vinification is finished comes the time of aging, and for this the castle also benefits from a latest generation underground and air-conditioned barrel cellar, with a design as surprising as it is fascinating.
Located just below the cellar dedicated to vinification, as specified above, the passage of the wine from the vat to the barrel is done by gravity.
Long criticized for the excessive use of new oak barrels, châteaux are increasingly using new containers for their ageing. Dassault is no exception to the rule.
Here, no less than 4 different types of containers are used:
- 225l barrels
- 500l barrels
- Amphoras, which make up around 10% of the breeding since 2018
- Casks
These new breeding methods are not insignificant and respond to a certain requirement from the consumer. Criticized in particular for the fact that Bordeaux wines needed a certain guard before being drunk, the integration of these new breeding methods makes it possible to make the tannins rounder, and above all to highlight the fruity side. The main cause is the reduction of the contact that the wine will have with the wood. The more the wine has contact with the wood, the more tannic it will be, conversely, the less there will be contact with the wood, the less tannic the wine will be. All this with the aim of improving the drinkability of wines.
Depending on the vintage, the final blend is composed, on average, of 60% of wines aged in new barrels, 20% of barrels having known 1 wine or in concrete vats, 10% in tuns and finally 10% in amphorae. Namely that about 10% of Cabernet Sauvignon come from an integral vinification in barrels of 500l.
The former cellars of Château Dassault are now used for the production of wines from Château La Fleur, another property of the Dassault Wine Estates group.
Pour découvrir les vins dégustés, je vous invite à vous rendre dans la Tasting Zone.