In the vineyard
Le Dôme is a tiny vineyard that has its feet predominantly in sandy soils with iron deposits on a south-facing slope adjacent to Ch. Angélus.
The vines were originally planted in 1956 and 1970. While Saint-Émilion is a Merlot-focused appellation, Le Dôme’s wines are 80% Cabernet Franc / 20% Merlot, reflecting the Cabernet Franc-dominant vineyards.
Yields are kept very low (30hl/ha) through strict pruning and green harvesting increasing the concentration of the remaining bunches. It also means that annual production rarely exceeds 1,000 cases.
In the winery
The rigorous selection in the vineyard continues in the winery where fruit is selected berry by berry.
The team undertakes a lengthy period of cold maceration before fermentation to extract colour and aromatics, prior to fermentation in wooden vats. The malolactic conversion takes place in French oak barrels, where the wine matures before bottling.
Oak use was typically lavish in the first decade of Le Dôme but has since been capped at a maximum of 80% new oak. The resulting wine style is dense, rich and perfumed.
A new winery and tasting room designed by celebrated architect Norman Foster was finally given the go ahead in 2019 after a lengthy approval process, and the cellar will receive its first grapes in 2020.