The first time that we visited Sainte
Barbe was in April 1999. The previous three years had
been spent looking at vineyards for sale around the
Bordeaux region. We were even tempted to look as far
away as Chile but some good friends advised us the challenges
were already great, without the additional difficulties
of a new culture and language 10.000km from home.
Most of the places that we visited before finding Sainte
Barbe were too small, with the vineyards surrounded
by other vineyards, not enough land etc. At Sainte Barbe,
this was not an issue. 30 hectares of vineyard along
the river plus another 100 hectares of land (meadows,
forest, marshes) .
Sainte Barbe is situated on the peninsular of Ambès
20 kms from Bordeaux. Despite its proximity, this was
a region that we had never visited before. Over the
last century the district had become industrialised
leaving only a scattering of large bourgeois homes that
had been very prestigeous in the nineteenth century.
But everything was in a terrible state - the vineyard
was completely run down and the grapes had not been
harvested for the last few years. The main house and
buildings were in an incredible state of delapidation,
almost abandoned, yet the owners, a very elderly couple,
continued living there despite being unable to continue
the upkeep of the property.
 After
much discussion, we decided to go ahead: the potential
of the vineyard could be realised with new drainage,
good husbandry and lots and lots of work. In time, we
could bring Sainte Barbe back to life.
Antoine & Lucy Touton
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