Clos Puy Arnaud

The estate

Puy Arnaud had a name long before it had a Valette. In 1874 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed Puyarnaud as a village of Belvès with several growers among its first crus, Louis Rouleau among them at 30 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). By 1897, in Féret’s Les vins de l’arrondissement de Libourne, the Château Puy-Arnaud, still under Rouleau, had 15 hectares on the rocks of Puycarpin at the edge of Sainte-Colombe, made 75 tonneaux of red and 10 of white, and counted among the most sought-after wines of the district.

Thierry Valette comes from a family whose firm dates from 1870 and which, through Alexandre Valette, bought Troplong Mondot and Pavie from 1937. He held Château Pavie with his cousin Jean-Paul from 1979 until they sold it in 1998, and 2 years later, in 2000, he bought Clos Puy Arnaud. The estate lies at 90 to 100 meters on a plateau of limestone with fossil starfish, under a very thin soil of clay, silt and sand, in 32 plots over 15 hectares: 65% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, 1.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 1.5% Castets, 30 years old on average. An elm more than 150 years old is the emblem of the property and stands on its labels.

Valette went organic in 2001 and kept going: first trials of biodynamics in 2005 and 2006, full commitment in 2008, the Biodyvin label in 2010, Demeter certification in 2014. The 2019 grand vin (the estate’s first wine) shows the method: 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked by hand, moved by gravity as whole grapes into wooden and cement vats, fermented naturally at no more than 25°C, then raised 6 months, 1 third in barrel, 15% of it new, 1 third in demi-muids and 1 third in amphora, and 3 more months in uncoated cement. The estate makes about 60,000 bottles, 50% of them grand vin; Le Rouge and the Cuvée Bistrot, 100% Malbec, are sold as Vin de France.

At a glance

Appellation

Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

Commune

Belvès-de-Castillon

Classification

No classification

Owner

Thierry Valette, since 2000

Vineyard

15 hectares in 32 plots; vines 30 years old on average

Ground

Thin clay, silt and sand over limestone with fossil starfish, at 90 to 100 meters

Grapes

Merlot 65%, Cabernet Franc 26%, Cabernet Sauvignon 4%, Malbec 2%, Sauvignon Blanc 1.5%, Castets 1.5%

Farming

Organic since 2001; Biodyvin, 2010; Demeter, 2014

Cellar

Gravity; wooden and cement vats; 6 months in barrel, demi-muid and amphora, then 3 months in cement

Production

About 60,000 bottles, 50% of them grand vin

Wines

Clos Puy Arnaud; Les Ormeaux; Pervenche; Le Rouge and Cuvée Bistrot, Vin de France

In history

Among the first crus of Belvès, 1874; 15 hectares and 75 tonneaux of red under Rouleau, 1897

Sources: Clos Puy Arnaud · Clos Puy Arnaud, history · Clos Puy Arnaud, terroir · Clos Puy Arnaud, the wines · Clos Puy Arnaud, biodynamics · Clos Puy Arnaud, technical sheet of the 2019 · Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Clos Puy Arnaud