{"id":14706,"date":"2020-07-27T16:55:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cos.projet-client.com\/in-medio-acquae\/"},"modified":"2020-07-27T16:55:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:55:05","slug":"in-medio-acquae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/home\/cos-chronicle\/in-medio-acquae\/","title":{"rendered":"In Medio Acquae"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Between two waters” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator][vc_column_text]In Medio Acquae: the Romans\u2019 choice of name for the M\u00e9doc region, located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde Estuary, was indeed fitting!<\/p>\n

Once a marshland, the M\u00e9doc region was drained by Dutch specialists hired in 1599 by Henri IV to increase the amount of farmable land. To this day, some areas of marshland can still be found in the M\u00e9doc near Cos d\u2019Estournel, like relics of the region\u2019s history, and the evaporated water from these lands helps to temper extreme weather conditions.<\/p>\n

The drainage works carried out in the seventeenth century revealed a terroir that had been shaped by the flow of water and was particularly rich and adapted to winegrowing. For thousands of years, the rivers that meandered through the Pyrenees slowly eroded the mountains, deposing gravel along their shores and shaping hills and valleys. These alluvial terraces of gravel and pebbles force the vines growing on them to draw upon their most valuable resources. When our ancestors called the terroir beneath their feet \u201cCos,\u201d or \u201chill of pebbles,\u201d in the old Gascon dialect, their choice of words was apt.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”6821″ img_size=”1620×1080″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”5535″ img_size=”1620×1080″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The water that permeates below ground benefits the region\u2019s soils and subsoils, and the nearby Gironde Estuary helps the grapevines at Cos d\u2019Estournel reach their fullest form of expression, the glare of the sunlight on the water\u2019s surface resulting in brighter, more intense light that favors the ripening process.<\/p>\n

Evaporated water from the estuary and the ocean cools the air in the summer and warms it in the winter, resulting in more moderate temperatures overall.
\nThe strong currents and the tides that ebb and flow in these two bodies of water generate essential breezes that help keep the vines of Cos d\u2019Estournel healthy: by drying up excess humidity, they prevent disease and they usher out cold air that can lead to frost.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”gray-color justify”]These waters shaped the whole of the M\u00e9doc, and Cos d\u2019Estournel serves as a prime example of how they affect climate, moderate temperatures and contribute to the quality of soils and subsoils.
\nFinally, the Gironde Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean served as trade routes that opened possibilities for the wine trade through overseas shipping to India and beyond. At once a gift of nature and a product of history, the ties that bind water and wine are truly eternal.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very name \u201cM\u00e9doc\u201d evokes the waters that surround the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1749,"featured_media":14712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-de-bord","category-article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t