Château la Serre

History of Château la Serre

It was in 1956 that Bernard d'Arfeuille decided to buy the beautiful estate of Château La Serre, located on the heights of Saint-Emilion and very famous for its terroir, a limestone plateau that produces wines of extreme finesse.

This passion has of course been inherited by his eldest son, Luc d'Arfeuille. For him, it is not an accumulation, but the starting point of a new ambition: to develop and better express this terroir. At the helm of Château La Serre, Luc d'Arfeuille continues a long family tradition of exceptional wines, including those from the right bank of Bordeaux.

Thus, after long renovation work carried out on the estate in the late 1970s, Luc d'Arfeuillen succeeded in placing his estate among the top Grands Crus Classés of Saint-Emilion. Today, the family tradition continues, as in 2013 his nephew Arnaud d'Arfeuille took over the day-to-day management of Château La Serre.

Terroir in Saint-Émilion

Château La Serre is located in the heart of Saint-Emilion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, with its vineyard landscapes. The region literally breathes its history with its historic sites and landscapes, all shaped by centuries of viticulture. The region in the Saint-Emilion appellation is bordered to the north by a watercourse, La Barbanne, to the east by the slopes of Castillon and to the south by the plain of the Dordogne. To the northwest, it is the Pomerol plateau. Therefore, the appellation covers a very large area with considerable altitude differences and a great variety of subsoils with more than 17 different soil types.

Château La Serre enjoys a doubly exceptional location. On the one hand, it is located in the centre of the protected historic area, but also and above all on one of the best, if not the best, subsoil of the appellation, the limestone plateau. The following grape varieties are grown on it:

• 80% Merlot
• 20% Cabernet Franc

The vines are renewed in such a way that the average age is 35 years.

State of the art in the cellar

The d'Arfeuille family attaches great importance to keeping their techniques and wine-making knowledge up to date. They are supported by oenologist Stephane Toutoundji, who enriches the company with new knowledge  and new technologies.

Cold pre-fermentation or, more recently, optical laser sorting are new tools that allow optimal grain selection and better extraction to create a wine that reveals, above all, the typicality of this terroir. Extraction is measured against the intrinsic potential of the vintage. The balance thus achieved is supported by a carefully measured passage in barrels. A maturation of 15 to 18 months in barrels, which are renewed every year on a large scale, makes it possible to achieve an ideal balance and proportion of wood aromas.