From Wilderness to Second Growth in Just Forty Years — The Story of Château Montrose

A hillside in the village of Saint-Estèphe was once covered with heather. When the heather bloomed, the whole hillside took on a pale pink hue. Sailors traveling up and down the Gironde estuary are said to have seen this landscape from a distance and come to call it "Mont Rose" — the rose-colored hill. That is how the name Château Montrose came to be.

But the name is not the only surprising part of this hill's story. The land was cleared from wilderness and planted with vines in 1815. Just forty years later, in 1855, Montrose was named a Second Growth (Deuxièmes Crus) in the Classification. How quickly it moved from wilderness to classification is another side of this hill's story worth telling.

The "Rose-Colored Hill" the Sailors Named

Let us begin by unraveling the mystery of the name.

This hill was once covered with heather. When the heather bloomed, the whole hillside took on a pale pink hue. Sailors traveling up and down the Gironde estuary are said to have seen this landscape from a distance and come to call it "Mont Rose" — the rose-colored hill. The flower itself was not a rose. But its color alone left the word "rose" on the hill, and that word became the château's name. The château itself still recounts this tradition today.

From Wilderness to Classification in Just Forty Years

This land was originally part of the Calon-Ségur estate, held by the Ségur family. In 1778, the Dumoulin family acquired this land together with the Calon-Ségur estate. Their heir, Étienne Théodore Dumoulin, began clearing this wilderness and planting vines from 1815 onward. This marked the beginning of Château Montrose.

What followed happened quickly. In the 1855 Classification, Montrose was named a Second Growth (Deuxièmes Crus). Montrose had reached this status only forty years after the land was cleared. Among the 61 classified châteaux of Bordeaux's Left Bank, it is sometimes described as a notably young estate. In the village of Saint-Estèphe, only two châteaux were named Second Growths: Montrose and Cos d'Estournel.

Passing the Baton: From the Dumoulin Family to the Charmolüe Family, and to the Bouygues Brothers

The era of the founding Dumoulin family continued until the death of its owner in 1861. Mathieu Dollfus then took over the château from 1866 and looked after the estate until his own death in 1886. At the transitions from the Dumoulin family to the Dollfus family, and from the Dollfus family to the next owner, there were gaps of several years to about a decade, and it is not entirely clear how the vineyard was managed during those intervals.

A major turning point came in 1896. The Charmolüe family acquired the château and would go on to protect Montrose until 2006 — across three generations and roughly 110 years. The years from 1944 to 1960 in particular are known as the period when a woman, Yvonne Charmolüe, ran the château alone. The second wine born in 1983, La Dame de Montrose ("the lady of Montrose"), is said to have been named in honor of this proprietress. In more recent years, a third-tier wine, Tersio de Montrose, has been added, giving the lineup three levels.

In 2006, the château passed to the Bouygues brothers — Martin Bouygues and Olivier Bouygues — bringing the Charmolüe family's 110-year history to a close. The Bouygues family founded the Bouygues Group, a major French corporate conglomerate. Charlotte Bouygues and Mélissa Bouygues have also joined the management from within the family, and the estate is currently led by Pierre Graffeuille, who became Directeur Général (CEO) in 2022. More than two centuries after the wilderness was first cleared, the hill is now guided jointly by the brothers who own the estate and a professional management team.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• The name "rose-colored hill" comes not from roses but from heather. Sailors on the Gironde estuary are said to have called it this after the hillside turned pink when the flowers bloomed.
• From the clearing of the land in 1815 to its selection as a Second Growth in the 1855 Classification, Montrose took just forty years. It is sometimes described as a notably young estate among the classified châteaux.
• The second wine La Dame de Montrose was created in 1983. It is said to have been named in honor of Yvonne Charmolüe, the proprietress who ran the château alone from 1944 to 1960.