Château Feely is a Biodynamic estate in Saussignac, South west France. It produces Bergerac AOC and Saussignac AOC.
Owners: Seán (06.35.93.31.88) and Caroline Feely.
Biodynamic certification: 2007 10-ha (C1) Ecocert. 2011 10-ha (BDC1) Demeter.
Vineyards :10-ha of vines: approx 6-ha red grapes (75% Merlot, 25% Cab Sauvignon) and 4-ha white (50% Sauv Blanc, 50% Semillon). Our soils are limestone and clay on some fairly steep slopes of the Dordogne river valley. Much of the limestone is marine-fossil rock (similar to those well known vineyards on the St Emilion plateau–see here) which particularly imparts crisp mineral citrus flavours to the Sauvignon Blanc.
Pruning: Seán says ‘I do all of the work in the vineyard and winery myself (we don’t employ any workers) so I know my vines and wines very intimately. I try to do as much of the work by hand and as close to the lunar calendar recommendations as possible. I prune mostly when the moon is descending. I also privilege our top-end parcels with pruning them on fruit days. For the young vines, I prune them on root days to encourage their establishment in their first three years. I have found tying down the canes in early Spring works well during periods of an ascending moon (I break almost no canes).
Picking: 100% hand picked since 2014.
Winemaking: Seán says ‘In the winery, I aim to do most of the key vinifcation work on fruit days and sometimes the wine cooperates by finishing its fermentation on the requisite day. For lees stirring in vats and barriques, we use fruit days and some flower days for the white wines. I find racking barriques works well at times of the descending moon and when atmospheric pressure is low. We, as you can guess, also bottle on fruit days. We try to use low sulphur dioxide doses as I believe this masks all the effort you’ve put into unlocking the individuality of the vines’ flavours.
White wines
Bergerac Blanc AOC Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc: 2006 Nice contemporary style, light and grassy (Torrenieri 4 Feb 2009).
Sauvignon Blanc Pur: 2008
La Source Blanc Sauvignon Blanc. Planted 1950s. Barrel aged.
Generosité: 2010 70% Semillon, 30% Sauvignon Blanc. Barrel aged. 1,800 bottles.
Luminoscité: 2011 Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 50% Semillon, 50% Sauvignon Blanc.
Sincerité, Sauvignon Blanc Pur:
Pink wines
Bergerac Rosé AOC: 2011 Sensualité Rosé Merlot. Off dry.
Red wines
Bergerac Rouge AOC: 2006 Merlot Nice floral nose, seems like cold pre-soak, warmish fermentation with some maceration, then some new oak, as tannins a little dry and the wine quite modern but very attractive, with balanced ripeness (Torrenieri Feb 2009).
La Source Rouge: 2008 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon aged in oak barrels.
La Source Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon: 2011 Bottled.
Résonance Merlot: 2011 Bottled.
Sweet wines
Saussignac AOC: 500ml.
Contact
Château Feely
Lieu-Dit La Garrigue
24240 Saussignac (Dordogne), France
Tel+33 (0)5.53.22.72.71
Website www.chateaufeely.com
Website www.frenchwineadventures.com