<h3 class="p1"><strong>The Vineyard</strong></h3>
<p class="p2">Ch&acirc;teau Coutinel is located in the AOP Fronton production zone.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p2">The vineyard is set on slightly sloping ground. Some plots of land have a sandy-silty or gravelly soil, but this land is principally made of boulb&egrave;ne. The boulb&egrave;ne is a sort of siliceous and sandy-clayey soil, typical of AOP Fronton and, in a larger part, of Southwestern France.</p>
<p class="p2">The planting is varied. N&eacute;grette accounts for 50%, which corresponds with the decree for AOP Fronton.<br />The other grape varieties are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Syrah, Fer Servadou, C&ocirc;t, M&eacute;rille and Merlot. The vines on average are 25 years old.</p>
<p class="p1">The yields are more or less of 50-55 hl/ha, depending on the year. Yields never exceed the maximum limit of 55 hl/ha allowed by the AOP Fronton.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p2">Since 1998, Ch&acirc;teau Coutinel has also been enrolled in a sustainable farming program for all the treatments. That is why, the use of chemical weed-killers has been restricted for several years, in favour of the manual work of the soil with appropriate tools (ex: the grass cover crop between the rows for a better control of the self-propagating weeds). Also, for the varied diseases that can affect the vine, treatments are carefully considered but not systematic. When they are applied, it is always in the accordance with environmentally concered standards. <br />Grass cover is also part of the measures adopted within the framework of sustainable farming. It is considered as a management method of the soils. Thanks to this grass cover, that has been entirely sown, the spontaneous flora is controlled;radically reducing treatments against the weeds. Moreover, it is useful for fighting erosion, for the improvement of the soil&rsquo;s quality and, concerning the vine, for the control of the yields by limiting the sturdiness of the stocks.</p>
<p class="p2"><strong>Sustainable farming is used for two reasons : it limits interventions on vine upkeep (ex: less trimming) and reduces the use of pesticides to an absolute minimum..</strong></p>