Château Mirebeau Les Héliotropes, 2019

Both Florence and Cyril belong to old established wine-making families from Pomerol and Graves. Chateau Mirebeau, an old historic estate used to produce a basic Bordeaux red wine that needed to upgrade. To improve the potential quality, the original vinetrees were uprooted and progressively replaced by cabernet sauvignon (20%) and merlot (70%) trees plus some carmenere and petit verdot for the red wine. Some sauvignon blanc were planted for the white wine. That change in balance was the chance that decided Florence and Cyril to actually turn the estate into a fully organic one in 2005. The priviledged location of the vineyard on its hillock in the heart of the village (away from any potentially polluting neighbouring vineyard) enables the grapes to mature fully. The change in the vineyard led to a change in the wine-making techniques, respecting the natural yeast and bacteria from the vineyard. Although the cellar equipment is modern (stainless steel vats and new French oak casks (20% every year) there is no filtration nor any fining, so our wine is fully suitable for vegetarians and vegans. So we now produce a truer natural wine with minimal sulphites, emphasizing thus the typical Pessac-Leognan “terroir” : a mixture of clay, chalk and pebbles.