Château Thieuley

The château

André Courselle bought Château Thieuley at La Sauve in 1950. His son Francis, a young engineer and professor of enology, took over in 1972, and in 30 years the family’s vineyards grew from 4 to 80 hectares over 3 properties: Château Thieuley, Clos Sainte Anne and Château Saint Genès. Francis’s daughters, Marie and Sylvie Courselle, both agricultural engineers and enologists, run it today, Marie in charge of the winemaking and Sylvie of the sales. The name comes from tioule, an old word for a tile works that used the local clay, and the soils are a mix of clay and gravel. The family has often been first: whites made with skin maceration in 1986, an early welcome for visitors, Chardonnay and Syrah planted in 2006, disease-resistant varieties in 2019, and in 2021 olive trees and the first olive oil made wholly in the Gironde.

Thieuley grows Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and makes red and white Bordeaux in equal measure; it has been certified Terra Vitis since the 2017 vintage and holds Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms). The white Château Thieuley, a Bordeaux, is 45% Sémillon, 40% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Sauvignon Gris, and there is an Entre-deux-Mers white as well. The range adds a rosé and a clairet, the Cuvée Francis Courselle in red and white, Les Truffières, a Chardonnay, and a Crémant de Bordeaux.

At a glance

Appellation

Entre-deux-Mers, white; Bordeaux, red, white, rosé and clairet

Commune

La Sauve

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Courselle family, since 1950

Direction

Marie Courselle, winemaking; Sylvie Courselle, sales

Soil

Clay and gravel Terroir of Entre-deux-Mers →

Grapes

White Château Thieuley, Bordeaux: Sémillon 45%, Sauvignon Blanc 40%, Sauvignon Gris 15%

Farming

Terra Vitis, since the 2017 vintage; Haute Valeur Environnementale

Wines

Château Thieuley, Bordeaux and Entre-deux-Mers; Cuvée Francis Courselle; Les Truffières; Crémant de Thieuley

The house

Vignobles Courselle: also Clos Sainte Anne and Château Saint Genès