Shy, but enormously generous and kind, Michel Dietrich and his wife Isabelle hail from Alsace and Champagne, respectively. Michel studied winemaking in Burgundy and Bordeaux before the couple left to spend several years between 1981 and 1987 broadening their horizons in Australia, where Michel worked as director and oenologist for Rémy Martin Vineyards. 

In 1989, they settled in the medieval village of Rions, at the heart of Premières Côtes de Bordeaux. Discovering the availability of high quality and complex soils in still-affordable vineyards, Michel and Isabelle immediately imagined the wonderful wines they could make here.

This is the wonderful world in which their daughter Pauline grew up. After a few years working abroad, winemaking called her back.  She returned to school to oenology at Supagro Montpellier, and officially joined the Château Haut-Rian team in 2017. Pauline now manages all day-to-day operations.

An estate of 80 hectares, Château Haut-Rian (originally named “Haut-Rions” in honor of their town) sweeps up the bluffs from the appellation Premières Côtes de Bordeaux inland to Entre-Deux Mers, even touching into Cadillac.

Vineyards are all south to southeast, in general with gravelly limestone soils, but the concept of a multitude of parcels, in different hamlets all with different characteristics of soil types and expositions is central to the philosophy of producing the best possible wine in any given vintage. Traditional equipment is used to vinify the estate-grown fruit.

Since 2017, Château Haut-Rian has been Terra Vitis certified, adding an environmental consideration to all aspects of their winemaking. In 2018, the winery became Bee Friendly certified as well. 

 Château Haut-Rian