Chateau Vannieres
Geographical Location
Château Vannières is located between the villages of La Cadière d’Azur and Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer with the village of Castellet to the east of the property. It is completely exposed to the south and to the west, but it is protected to the north by the Massif de la Sainte Baume.
History
At the end of the 16th century, the Abbey of Saint-Victor ceded the land of Les Vannières, which thereafter become managed as a business, to the Seigneur du Castellet.
The Vineyard
It has a total area of 47 hectares, of which 33 hectares are planted and 2 await planting. The average age of the vines is 35 years.
The planting density is measured at 5,000 vines per hectare.
The geology of the soil is made up of shale and limestone which gives the wine fine tannins and powerful and complex bouquets, combining elegance and balance.
The vineyard is managed in the purest wine-growing tradition of Bandol.
Each winemaker prunes the same vines every year, under the monitoring of a technical team. After the pruning, the winemakers tie up the vine, and then in the spring they tie the young sprouts to training wire in order to have well-spaced out rows. The tractors can then work the soil without damaging the grapes. This work (covering with soil, uncovering and aerating) is repeated to aerate the soil and avoid the propagation of weeds.
The date of the harvest, which is a crucial decision, is decided by our analysis laboratory which performs daily monitoring of the ripeness of the grapes, parcel by parcel. Acidity, sugar, color and richness in tannins are examined.
The picking is done by hand. Each varietal from each parcel is taken separately to the winery, and the grapes from the young vines are used for the production of rosé.
The vinification is tailored to each vintage and to each of the different grape varietals. The temperatures, sampling and fermentation periods are monitored by the maître de chais, and every day each of the tanks is analyzed and sampled by our oenologist.
The aging is traditionally done in oak casks and barrels for reds, and in stainless steel tanks for whites and rosés. The decanting is frequent during the 18 to 24 months of maturation.
The chateau bottling date varies from vintage to vintage: the rosés and whites are bottled in March following the harvest, and the reds are bottled after the second winter thereafter; all this is done in collaboration with the maître de chais and the oenologist.
At Château Vannières, everything is respected in the purest winemaking tradition by employing the discipline, technique and experimentation of modern oenology.
Varietal Types
The traditional varietals of Bandol make up the vineyard of the Château Vannières estate: Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault. For the white wine, Clairette and Rolle.
These varietals are planted with the stocks that are best adapted to the soil.
From this Winery
Aromatic with an elegant and potent nose: dried apricot, pineapple. This wine has a long finish with notes of honey and lime blossom.
This wine pairs well with: seafood, grilled fish and fine cheeses
Serving temperature: to be served at 10˚ C to 11˚ C