Meet Pauline Lapierre

ARTISAN VINTNER•CHÂTEAU HAUT-RION•BORDEAUX

Pauline Lapierre is the owner & winemaker at Château Haut-Rian, a 70 hectare estate with vineyards located in Entre-Deux-Mers and Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux. Pauline’s parents — Michel and Isabelle Dietrich — founded the estate in 1988. They had both grown up in winemaking families (one is Alsace, one in Champagne). “After a rich career in Germany, Australia, and Bordeaux, they decided to settle in the pretty medieval village of Rions. For 30 years, they worked to make Château Haut-Rian a benchmark in terms of quality among the region's family estates.”

Pauline finished her oenology degree in Montpellier in 2016 and took over running the family estate in 2019, with her husband Michael joining in 2020. She says: It's a lifestyle choice, for a life where we do things with our hands; for a life where the countryside is agricultural and fertile; for a life where delight lies in the breath of the wind, the energy of a ray of sunshine or the smell of rain on the warm ground.”

The estate is certified biodynamic & organic.

She began the process of transitioning to organic agriculture in 2018, with 40 hectares of vineyards certified in 2024 and the remaining certified in 2025. Pauline says: “Engaging in organic and biodynamic viticulture requires substantial, technical and precise work from everyone, which can only be done by sensitive, hardworking, patient and stubborn people... artisans.” As a part of their biodynamic efforts, Pauline says they have “planted several hundred meters of hedgerow, installed bat boxes and two beehives. We apply green manure to 35 hectares of vineyards and feed the soil each year with compost made from our grape marc.”

Vineyard notes from 2022 (photos above): GREEN MANURE 🌱 30 hectares sown last week to ✅ capture atmospheric CO2, ✅ transform it into biomass, ✅ enrich our soils with organic matter. The conditions were optimal, and so far, the operation is going well 🤩

Vineyard notes from 2023: Coulous welcomes new residents 🌱After the vines and bees, olive trees are arriving in this magical place 🧙‍♀️  [Coulous = a magnificent terroir nestled in lush greenery with breathtaking views of the Rions ramparts.]

The vineyards.

Their estate is made up of many plots ranging from 2-4 hectares “spread across five villages for a greater diversity of soils, climates, and grape varieties.” From Pauline: “The oldest plots on the estate were planted in the 1940s and the most recent are a few months old. The average age of the vineyard is 25 years. We only work with grapes from our own plots. We are Sémillon lovers. Subtle and delicate, with a beautiful structure on the palate, it adds a lot to our white wine blends. We are fortunate to have old Sémillon plots on which we began mass selection work in 2019. Mass selection helps preserve the genetic diversity of these old plots by renewing them.”

We’ve carried her Château Haut-Rian Bordeaux Blanc vintage after vintage for years! Blend of Sémillon 70% & Sauvignon Blanc 30%. Lime, lemon rind & honeydew on the nose. Noticeably fuller-bodied on the palate (for a Bordeaux Blanc; it's the Sémillon) with flavors of ripe pear, apple & citrus. It's an All-Time Fav for a reason! And the price is right.

A few more glimpses of Pauline’s life.

I would love to meet this woman! Maybe we’ll get to one day….

Julie, co-owner, Portalis Wines