Starting from Libourne, the Saint-Emilion vineyards border on those of Pomerol, some properties sharing the same type of gravelly soils.

A little further on, beyond the Barbanne brook, other villages have the right to add the name "Saint-Emilion" to their own. They are known as the Saint-Emilion satellite appellations: Montagne-Saint-Emilion, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion and Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion.

The Saint-Emilion winegrowing area offers a wide variety of landscapes. Arriving from the south, the visitor can see the town of Saint-Emilion from afar, perched on the wavy edge of the plateau. Coming from the west, once he leaves Libourne, the visitor drives into an ocean of vines, dotted here and there with imposing houses and copses. And as he makes his way along the winding roads, he will find many knolls, rises and natural terraces that provide superb views over the silver ribbon of the Dordogne , the wide combes carpeted with vines, the bell tower at Saint-Emilion rising above the maze of mediaeval streets… He will discover the sunny, smiling countryside and the main features of the terroir of Saint-Emilion – a vast plateau and a succession of hills descending southwards and eastwards into wide, verdant valleys.

 

 

 

The " terroir ", a crucial concept in the Bordelais, is the sum of the essential features of the climate and the soil, giving the grape – and therefore the wine – its recognisably unique character.



External map of 80Ko

On the 45 th parallel, equidistant from the North Pole and the Equator, the Saint-Emilion area is blessed with the temperate oceanic climate of the Bordelais with hints of the Mediterranean , as evidenced by the magnificent evergreen oaks that line the edge of the plateau. Differences in temperature between winter and summer are moderate, the average temperature being around 12.8°C. Rainfall is well distributed over the year, with an annual average of 795 mm. From April to October, the general climate is particularly good for the vines, with summers that are often hot and beautiful, fine days in September and October. Saint-Emilion has the most continental (and therefore the hottest) of the Bordeaux climates which, combined with the influence of the rivers Dordogne and Isle, means that there is much less risk of frost and that splendid Indian summers can bring the grapes to a good state of maturity.

The microclimate is, however, subject to the usual general variations. From one year to the next, there may be considerable variations in temperature and precipitation. The vintage, a crucial concept in the Bordeaux wine region, results from the variability of the climate. The wine bears the hallmark of the year's climate.

Overall, the soils of the Saint-Emilion area can be divided into four main types.

In the centre of the area is a discontinuous asteriated limestone plateau that dates from the tertiary era and runs east-to-west from Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse to Saint-Emilion. The rock, at variable depth, is not generally colonized by the vine roots. On the plateau, different types of soils are found:

- to the west of the village are thin, light, limestone soils, most often with sand and loam.

- to the east of Saint-Emilion, the soils are mainly limestone-clay, fairly light but not very deep.

- in the middle of the plateau, on parts of the parishes of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, Saint-Hippolyte and Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse, the loam-clay cover is over 250 cm deep.

 


Brown limestone (sand-loam) soil
on asteriated limestone.

Around the plateau , there are outcrops of Fronsac molasse (Oligocene period) on the steeper southern and western slopes, less so on the northern side. The soils that lie on them are mainly limestone, often with a clay-loam texture. In the northern part of Saint-Christophe-des-Bordes, the relief is quite marked, with non-limestone clay-loam and loam soils that have developed on top of the geologically reshaped molasse.


Brown sandy soil on a layer of clay

The north west of the appellation is covered by a sandy layer of quaternary-era alluvial deposits which includes localized sand-clay strata. In places, the subsoils have an extremely high clay content.

Near Pomerol, on the Figeac terrace, lie a number of gravel knolls.


Sand-and-gravel soil

To the south, in the Dordogne valley, quaternary-era alluvial deposits, made up of gravel, sand and silt, in different combinations:

- at the foot of the hill in Saint-Emilion and Saint-Laurent-des-Combes, the soils are deep and sandy (siliceous). In Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse and Saint-Hippolyte, the texture of the soils at the foot of the hills is finer (clay or clay-loam).

- in the centre of the alluvial plain, the sandy soils are fairly shallow.

- closer to the Dordogne , from Libourne through Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens to Vignonet, runs a belt of sand-and-gravel soils.

 


Limestone-clay soil

To conclude, it may be said that the typicity of Saint-Emilion wines varies according to the type of terroir on which they are produced. Their diversity is what makes tasting them such a pleasurable experience.