Château Pichon-Lalande

The early history of Château Pichon-Lalande naturally matches that of its twin sibling, Château Pichon-Baron, the two having both been created from the great Pichon estate. The estate as a whole dates back to the time of Bernard de Pichon-Longueville, the son of François de Pichon and Catherine de Bavolier. The family assumed the Barony of Longueville when Bernard married Anne Daffis de Longueville in 1646. Together they had two sons; the first was François (born 1647), who by marriage took on the Barony of Parempuyre, and he was also président of the Bordeaux parliament. He was followed by Jacques (1649 – 1731), the second son, who married Thérèse de Rauzan (born 1672), daughter of Pierre des Mesures de Rauzan (died 1692). It was the line of descendants that came from Jacques and Thérèse that are most relevant to the history of Château Pichon-Lalande.

Pichon-Lalande: Rauzan and Pichon

The seeds of the creation of the Pichon domaine, which split to form the two Pichon estates we know today, may be found in the late 17th century, when Pierre des Mesures de Rauzan (died 1692) acquired a section of the Latour seigneurie amounting to around 21 hectares of land. Of this he planted perhaps 18 hectares with vines, his new venture being named L’Enclos Rauzan. This work was carried out between 1686 and 1690, and in doing so it was really Monsieur Rauzan who laid the foundation stone of both Château Pichon-Baron and Château Pichon-Lalande. Even so, before he had even finished he had also acquired vines in Margaux, which again he planted with vines. The estates that grew from this second purchase more readily declare their origins, being Château Rauzan-Gassies and Château Rauzan-Ségla.

Pierre passed the land near Pauillac to his daughter Thérèse de Rauzan (born 1672) and her husband Jacques de Pichon (1649 – 1731). History does not seem to tell us of Thérèse’s fate, or at least I have not been able to uncover it, whereas we know that Jacques died in 1731, and the property was bequeathed to his son, also named Jacques (1697 – 1752). Presumably Thérèse had died by this time, either that or she was content to see her son take on full responsibility for the land. Like his father the younger Jacques also had some involvement in local politics, working as an advisor to the parliament, and sometime around 1730 he married Jeanne Germaine de Lajus. During their tenure Jacques and Germaine augmented the Pichon vineyard by the exchange of plots of vines with neighbouring Latour, and the wines produced on the estate developed an excellent reputation, second only – at least within the boundaries of the commune – to its more illustrious neighbour.

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