Chateau Sainte Marie Entre Deux Mers Vielles Vignes 2020

We adored this high quality white Bordeaux at a tasting luncheon with the wines of 5th generation grower, Stéphane Dupuch. Dedicated to organic farming, indigenous yeasts, and to exposing what he calls the 'Atlantic effect', Stéphane makes wines with great purity, depth, terroir, freshness and balance. They are classic Bordeaux with deep soul, lovely elegance and mouthwatering acidity, in both whites and reds. Honestly, we had a hard time choosing which wines to stock, as we could have bought all of them. For the winter, we decided to zone in on the 2013 Château Peyredon from the Haut Médoc and the 2016 Château Sainte Marie 'Alios' red from the Entre-deux-Mers. Now that we are preparing for Spring and Summer, we brought in this exceptional selection, and it was the first wine we ever tasted from this organic grower.

Planted by Stéphane's great grandfather over 100 years ago, this old vine vineyard has clay and limestone soils, with an average vine age of 40 years. The hillside is very steep, it is almost the highest altitude in the entire region in fact, and Entre deux Mers is known for its very hilly terrain. The blend is about 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon and 5% Muscadelle, both in the vineyard and in the bottle. We found Meyer lemon, quince, minerals, gentle herbs and notions of white flower petals. When we tasted this we thought it would be great for Sancerre lovers to try, and it would give them a superb value on top of a very high quality. Stéphane uses all natural indigenous yeasts,  ages this is tank and concrete (no oak) and grass grows naturally in the vineyards, all helping to make this white taste so fresh, so pure and so utterly delicious. 2018 was a classic white wine vintage for the region, with cool nights and warm days.