Dourthe is an historic Bordeaux company with almost 200 years of negociant and wine producing history. It was founded in 1840 by hotelier Pierre Dourthe who opened a wine merchant business to ensure quality wine for his hotel, and for the next five generations the Dourthe family expanded their wine trade business and bought Bordeaux estates. In 1998 the company’s professional managers bought Dourthe and in 2007 the Thiénot group, one of France’s largest wine conglomerates, bought a majority stake in Dourthe. Today Dourthe owns nine Bordeaux chateaux. One of its signature wines is Essence de Dourthe, which is produced from blending grapes from 35 acres of Dourthe’s best vineyards. The grapes therefore are sourced from numerous estates. Essence de Dourthe is made in very limited quantities of about 6,000 bottles annually.