Château Poupille

The estate

Poupille means the end of the slope in the local patois, and the name is in the old books well before the Carrilles. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed A Poupille at Sainte-Colombe from 1874 under Laguiterie and Ouy, at 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), then under Lagueyterie alone. Albert Martin, of Libourne, had it by 1908, and in 1922 the guide printed it for the first time as Château Poupille, under Al. Martin, the mayor, at 75 tonneaux.

Jean-Marie Carrille bought it in 1967. His son Philippe, the 5th generation of a family of growers, took over in 1988 and changed it from the ground up: he stopped systemic treatments, sowed cover crops, and turned down both the garage style and micro-oxygenation. The estate has been certified organic since 2008, at the end of a conversion begun long before; 500 square meters of solar panels sit on a storage building, and vine prunings heat the place. Then the wine found a new audience: Poupille appeared in a Japanese wine manga that sold more than 3.5 million copies in Japan, and its sales in Asia rose with it.

The 33 hectares lie in a single block, every plot facing south on the same clay and limestone, planted 97% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Everything is picked by hand, sometimes in 2 passes to catch the ripeness, pressed in a vertical press, soaked cold and fermented with native yeasts, and the wine ages in barrels from the Taransaud cooperage. The family also makes Poupille Atypique, without added sulfites, and 2 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, Château Haut Cardinal and Château Robin des Moines.

At a glance

Appellation

Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

Commune

Sainte-Colombe

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Carrille family, since 1967

Direction

Philippe Carrille, since 1988

Vineyard

33 hectares in a single block, facing south

Ground

Clay and limestone

Grapes

Merlot 97%, Cabernet Franc 2%, Cabernet Sauvignon 1%

Farming

Organic, certified since 2008

Cellar

Picked by hand; vertical press; native yeasts; Taransaud barrels

Wines

Poupille; Poupille Atypique; Château Haut Cardinal and Château Robin des Moines, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

In history

A Poupille at Sainte-Colombe from 1874, 25 tonneaux; Château Poupille, 75 tonneaux, in 1922

Sources: Château Poupille, home · Château Poupille, home (English) · Château Poupille, a family estate · Château Poupille, organic and sustainable development · Château Poupille, the wines of the property