Château Le Bernat

Château Le Bernat is the enchanting story of a meeting between two wine lovers with a shared passion for a life in viticulutre within the small Saint-Emilion valley. Since the summer of 1999, Liliane and Pierre-Jean Le Roy have invested heavily, and in so doing revived, the elegant Château Le Bernat and its surrounding six hectares of vine. The Vineyard’s rich soil hosts both the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, with some sections of the Château’s former variety of vine having been established for more than 60 years upon the clay-limestone slopes of Puisseguin Saint-Émilion. Under Liliane and Pierre-Jean’s stewardship the vine has been subject to the most professional and meticulous of care; involving a particular balance of drainage, training of the vines and double Guyot pruning. Recent investment has included the introduction of stainless-steel thermal controlled vats of small capacity for partial vinification within the Château’s cellar facility. The wine storehouse and the farm building have been restored since 1999, achieving a precise and mastered process of barrel maturation (new barrels for a first vintage and renewed at the rate of 30% each year). Yield sizes and accuracy in the maturation of the grape have been enhanced through the regular and methodical thinning of leaves on the vine, the green harvesting and manual collection of the fruit in season. After three years of management under the Banton & Lauret Company, the vineyard is now exclusively directed by Alexandre Candido the Cellar master and Jean-Philippe Fort the Oenologist consultant in Michel Rolland laboratory. Over the last ten years, Liliane and Pierre-Jean Le Roy have come to learn and experience their soil, facilitating its fulfilment and harnessing its balance and intricacy with nature. In so doing the Le Roy’s have perfected their brand of wine making at Château Le Bernat. Every bottle of vintage from Chateau Le Bernat, tells a story of passion, and dedication to winemaking through which its proprietors are realising their own dreams. A vitality for mastery in viticulture can be tasted in every bottle, enjoyed at every table, from each and every vine of Chateau Le Bernat. – Description from dvoristanac    (hide)