Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste: The Lacoste Era
Although their name will remain forever associated with the château, the Lacoste family were not in charge at this domaine for a very long time. At some point during the first half of the 19th century François Lacoste was succeeded by his son Frédéric, and it was during his tenure that both Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Grand-Puy-Ducasse were ranked in the 1855 classification of the Médoc, both positioned at the level of cinquième cru. Around this time the Lacoste family added an attractive château (pictured on the previous page) to their assets, in place of the manor house which had been erected during the previous century. Frédéric Lacoste passed the estate to his daughter, Jeanne Joséphine Françoise Lacoste, who married Comte Henri de Saint-Legier d’Orignac (born 1837), and this effectively brought the Lacoste era to an end.
The estate remained in the possession of Comte Henri de Saint-Legier d’Orignac during the Great War, but it went into decline, consequent upon the arrival of vineyard diseases and conflict. It was sold in 1920 to two gentlemen, Messieurs Neal and Hériveau. They do not seem to have made any great mark on the estate, and twelve years later the château and vineyards were sold once again, this time to a gentleman named Raymond Dupin.
