Viticulture

Château Mauvesin Barton's vineyard is located in the village appellation of "Moulis en Médoc", half way between Margaux and Saint Julien. Although it is the smallest Médoc appellation (with 610 hectares) it boasts a concentration of great terroirs, ranging from pure gravel slopes to rich clay soils and limestone sub-soils.

At Mauvesin Barton, the soil is partly clay-gravel, particularly suitable for the development of Merlot, and partly fine gravel and gritty sand, allowing the Cabernet Sauvignon to reach optimum ripeness.

The vine care involves numerous tasks, mostly manual, all through the year, come rain or shine. The winter pruning is a delicate job, requiring precision, experience, know-how and agility. Then after attaching the vines, the impetuous spring arrives, wires must first be lowered then lifted to guide the young shoots. The vines must be supported and shaped.

The average age of the vines is 35 years. They thus give top quality grapes but a lower yield. To compensate for this, there is an annual re-organization of the plots with total replanting of plots or the pain-staking replanting of certain individual plants within a given plot. The plot reorganization began in 2012 with the plantation of 6 hectares and is continuing today.

Environmental protection is key in each of the family's estates. At Château Léoville Barton, as at Château Langoa Barton, over 12% of the vineyard is farmed organically, with no synthetic products. It is with this same respect for Nature that Château Mauvesin Barton has chosen integrated agricultural methods.

The younger plots are harvested by hand. A special vibrating trailer is used when unloading the grapes to avoid damaging them. At Château Mauvesin Barton, the selection of the grapes is sometimes performed by an optical sorting machine to ensure only the best berries are retained.