MÉDOC, LAND SURROUNDED BY WATER

The riverside climate of the Médoc is characterised by moderate seasonal fluctuations and low rainfall for an Atlantic climate. These favourable weather conditions are caused by the thermo-regulating effect of the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean to the West (influenced by the Gulf Stream) and the Gironde, the largest estuary in Europe, to the East.

Despite a few climatic extremes in the past, this privileged Médoc “terroir” offers ideal growing conditions for vines and has allowed the development of elite vineyards over the centuries.

Nevertheless, if the annual variations in weather largely explain the difference between various vintages, the climate alone cannot explain all the characteristics of the Médoc wines or their particular personality.

The dominant factors of the Médoc “terroir” are rather more to do with the original geology of this sedimentary basin, the geological history of its soils, the topography of its lithological formations and the present pedological composition of its vine soils.