Château de Fayolle enjoys a superb ‘terroir’ that has been liked to that of its famous neighbour St Emilion. The vineyard is on a limestone-clay plateau which slopes gently towards the west and the 90 meter elevation above the Dordogne valley ensures a good flow of air through the vines and protects them against frost and disease. The soil or ‘terroir’ in this part of the Dordogne valley, with its maritime climate and calcareous source rock provide the perfect combination for producing one of the best wines of this region. In common with many of the vineyards of the Bergerac appellation, Fayolle is planted with the traditional Bordeaux varieties – Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc for the white wine; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc which are blended to make up the reds.
Situated in the heart of the Bergerac wine region, the Château La Rayre keeps the great tradition of the Bergerac and Monbazillac vineyards alive. In the constant search for high quality, Vincent Vesselle operates his vineyard with passion in order to produce prize-winning wines that have a strong identity.
For five generations going back to the mid-19th century, there are still traces of the vine growing on a small homestead, along with other cereal production and dairy farming. About 1935, my grandfather, Amédée Roche with some winemakers decided to come together and found the wine cooperative Monbazillac. This, after some time, bought the Chateau de Monbazillac and currently owns.
Terroir:
All the property is established on “lower molasses of the Resident of Agen” i.e. on carbonated clays and feldspathic micaceous sandstones. One of the characteristics of the soil is to profit from a very important silica outcrop which gives a certain acidity on the ground. The general exposure is full south and all the pieces are in more or less accentuated slopes. Encépagement: Important replantings which took place since 1991 made it possible to create homogeneous farming sets with qualitative vines adapted to the conditions of the soil (grounds very limestones and acids). Today, the white vines represent 14 hectares including 15% in Sauvignon, 50% in Sémillon and 35% in Muscadelle. The whole property is planted in narrow vines with 5000 feet/hectare.
History:
Built by the English during “the One hundred year old War” towards the end of the XIII° century, this old fortified house was used as a basis advanced for the one of the largest castles of Périgord destroyed during the wars of religion, the Castle of Montcuq.
On the first chart of Belen, one sees that 2 activities were established near Grande Maison; the vine and size of stone runners for the mills of the area.
Henry IV, in 1608 made gift of the property to a lawyer of Bergerac, Charles de Livardie.
Thierry Després became owner into 1990 of the buildings and a field of 10 hectares including 4 in vines in very bad condition. Since, thanks to purchases and exchanges, the property took again its former size. Today, it counts 20 hectares including 15 of vines because of a vigorous policy of qualitative replanting.
