Famous since time immemorial, the wines of our region, whether Madiran reds or Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh whites, owe everything to the men and women who, ever since the 11th- century Benedictine monks, have put its unique origins to such sublime use.
Today, our winegrowers are keeping this tradition very much alive and kicking under the banner of the Vignobles of Marie Maria which unit some of the finest terroirs of the appellation.
The Crouseilles Wine Cooperative, situated a few kilometres outside of Madiran, was founded in 1950 and its winegrowers have been partners ever since. As winegrowers we are proud of our traditions and hold strong beliefs and, by taming abandoned terroirs, by taking risks, by making audacious choices, by working with rigour and discipline we have created a range of characterful wines that display a nigh-on perfect expression of terroir.
Marie Maria was born of an intrinsic, profound and heartfelt desire to continue the work of revealing the subtleties of the great terroirs of Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh for their red and white wines respectively.
Vine and winegrower are inextricably linked; with great respect and equal passion the winegrower works towards coaxing the terroir’s natural expression out of the grapes. Manual harvests, pruning, crop-thinning, leaf-removal and trimming are just some of the tasks undertaken to help the vine produce its swollen fruit.
Below are the names of several Marie Maria ambassadors with whom you are more than welcome to come and taste and discuss our wines:
• Roland Podenas, President of the Crouseilles Wine Cooperative and winegrower
• Denis Degache, Director of the Crouseilles Wine Cooperative
• Loïc Dubourdieu, oenologist and winegrower
• Emmanuel Lagrave, winegrower
Denis Degache
Loïc Dubourdieu
Roland Podenas
Emmanuel Lagrave
Come and taste our local wines at Madiran on 14 & 15 August every year
in celebration of Sainte-Marie, or the Virgin Mary
Crouseilles Wine Cooperative in a Few Figures
• 130 winegrowers, 15 employees
• 658 hectares of vines (approximately 40 % of AOC Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh)
• Various sites of vinification and elevage (Crouseilles Wine Cooperative, Château de Mascaraas and Saint-Mont, 15 kilometres from Madiran)
