Château La Mission Haut-Brion: Olive de Lestonnac

Of these it was Pierre de Lestonnac (died 1607), Seigneur de Puypelat, who inherited the responsibility for the land. His brothers Richard and Louis had already died, and there is little written on Blaise, so it may well have been that he was the only surviving male heir. On January 1562 he had married Olive de Lavergne and they had a son, named Richard, and a daughter, named Olive for her mother. Pierre was a significant figure locally, being appointed a jurat, and his vineyard brought him a degree of wealth and success. It was he that was responsible for the first buildings on the domaine, having a wood-framed residence and winery constructed in 1572.

Like her father Olive de Lestonnac was also an instrumental figure in the story of Château La Mission Haut-Brion, but in her case for rather different reasons, as it was she that eventually cast it from the ownership of the Lestonnac family. Although I am not clear why Olive should have inherited the estate, it may simply have been that Richard never married and had no heir, while the estate – if offered as a dowry – may well have made Olive a very attractive proposition. Indeed, she married three times, and it is fair to say she does not seem to have married below her status, at least as she matured. Her first husband, who she wed on September 3rd 1592, at the age of just twenty years, was Pierre de Termes, about whom I have uncovered very little information. They do not appear to have had any children. Next up, this wedding coming just eight years later, on July 8th 1600, was Louis de Gentilhs, Baron de Cadillac, and president of the Bordeaux parliament. They had at least one child, Gabriel de Gentilhs (died 1626), who inherited his father’s title but not his mother’s estate. Finally Olive married Marc-Antoine de Gourgues, conseiller in the Bordeaux parliament, and its first president in 1616; it was third time around for her and second time for him. They had no children.

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