Wine is the fruit of the earth. Vines do not like comfort or the silt of fertile plains. They like poor soils and, as the saying goes "the vine needs to struggle and suffer to produce."

The estate at Arsac (112 hectares of vines on an estate totalling some 250 hectares) enjoys just the right type of soil: a sand and gravel hilltop mixed with a rather thin layer of clay.

Wine is only the very best of the grape, and the wine of a Grand Cru is always the quest for balance and harmony between grape varieties. The vineyard of Château d'Arsac is therefore planted with Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.

Given the large number of scattered plots that make up the Margaux appellation, there is no such thing as a typical "Margaux", just a number of points in common between the wines from the appellation. All these particularities contribute to the richness and variety of the wines of Margaux.

It is generally acknowledged that Margaux wines boast great finesse and classical elegance. They are rich without being too heady or insistent, silky but not too soft, with smooth hints of ripe fruit, vanilla, toast and sometimes roses. On the palate, once the tannins have mellowed out, their texture and their body are seen as "the most feminine in the Médoc "… which is the most priceless compliment, after all.