Château Grand Champs

In 1969, Michel Séral took over his parents’ estate and replanted the whole of the vineyard. His vines are now heading for the ripe old age of forty and are planted according to a perfectly organised plan with grass cover every other row. In this way, Michel Séral limits the risks by hedging his bets: if the year is too wet, the grass will soak up the water, and if the year is too dry, it will have the opposite effect.

He is always out among his Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon and Semillon vines, and leaves it to others to handle the task of selling the wines while he focuses his attention on his beloved plants. He never treats them without thinking it over carefully first and he prefers the work to be done by hand whenever possible. Today he is renowned for his environmentally friendly approach and the Château has just received accreditation in accordance with the specifications of Sustainable Agriculture –it is richly deserved.

“This is how we used to work right back in the beginning”, he explains, “but then came the 1970s with the objective of productivity-at-all-costs by using vast quantities of fertilizers. Today, the trend has been reversed, yields are carefully controlled and fertilizers have been banished.”