Château Sainte-Marie Petite Marie Rouge 2024

Château Sainte-Marie is a 35-hectare family estate in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, on south-facing hilltops among the highest points in the Gironde. The estate's history connects it to the Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure, one of the oldest monasteries in France, and it has been in continuous wine production since at least the nineteenth century. The Dupuch-Mondon family has run the property since 1956, when Gilles Dupuch inherited it from his uncle Édouard Mondon and began raising the ambitions and quality of the estate, eventually serving as President of the Entre-Deux-Mers Growers' Association.

Stéphane Dupuch, fifth-generation winemaker and Gilles's son, took over in 1997 after studying in Montpellier, immediately converting the estate to organic viticulture. He farms with biodynamic principles, follows the lunar calendar for vineyard and cellar work, and uses no chemical fertilizers. Biodiversity is actively encouraged across the property — the estate keeps cattle on AOC land rather than converting it to vines, and Stéphane developed his own bamboo mulching system, using plant material grown on the estate to nourish the soils without importing anything external.

The vineyards are planted by sélection massale on gravel, clay, and chalk, and vine ages range from 10 to over 100 years. The oldest Sémillon vines on the estate are 107 years old — survivors of the catastrophic 1956 frost that destroyed much of Bordeaux. Grapes are hand-harvested, which is uncommon in the region, and each parcel is vinified separately with indigenous yeasts to preserve terroir specificity. The Petite Marie cuvées represent the entry-level expression of the estate, drawn from younger vines for fresh, approachable drinking. The estate's wines are imported in the United States by Beaune Imports and Polaner Selections.

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Entre-Deux-Mers — literally "between two seas" — is the large triangular zone in central Bordeaux that sits between the Garonne river to the south and the Dordogne to the north. It is one of the broadest appellations in the wider Bordeaux region by surface area, covering a landscape of rolling green hills, vine-covered ridges, river valleys, and historic villages in the departments of Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne. The name refers to the tidal stretches of the two rivers, which behave like inland seas in their lower reaches.

The topography of Entre-Deux-Mers is defined by a series of ridges and hillsides that rise to modest elevations above the river plains. The highest points in the Gironde are found here, and south-facing sites on these elevated ridges benefit from excellent sun exposure, good drainage, and the fresh breezes that come off both rivers. Soils across the zone are varied but commonly include clay, limestone, chalk, and gravel in differing combinations depending on altitude and position.

The Entre-Deux-Mers appellation designation applies only to dry whites, primarily from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. Red wines from the same zone are labelled under Bordeaux AOC or Bordeaux Supérieur AOC depending on their grape composition, minimum alcohol levels, and ageing. Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot are all permitted for the red wines.

The region has historically been associated with high-volume white wine production, but a generation of quality-focused smaller producers — including Stéphane Dupuch at Château Sainte-Marie — has demonstrated that the zone's elevated terroirs are capable of producing wines with genuine complexity and distinctiveness. The Entre-Deux-Mers Growers' Association has actively promoted denser vine planting and lower yields as a path to quality improvement.