Château Lagrange: Charles de Brane
The property came into the possession of Charles de Brane, but tracking down specific details on this individual has been near impossible. It is broadly assumed (and it makes sense) that he was a member of the same family who at one time or another also owned Brane-Mouton (today better known as Château Mouton-Rothschild), Château Brane-Cantenac and one or two other domaines. Exactly how Charles was related to Bertrand de Brane, his son Joseph de Brane and grandson Hector de Brane, proprietors of these two estates, has eluded me though. I would usually find some clue in old dictionaries of the French nobility, but strangely the Brane family don’t make an appearance in these. Perhaps they weren’t quite noble enough?
It seems likely that it was during the Brane era that vines were first planted here; the early and middle years of the 18th century being the time at which many of the classed growth estates of the Médoc were established. These first wines were sold, perhaps unsurprisingly, under the name of Brane-St-Julien.
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