Château Margaux: The Lestonnac Era
The next significant figure to play his part in the history of Château Margaux was undoubtedly Pierre de Lestonnac (died 1607). Between 1568 and 1596 Pierre began buying up properties in the communes of Cantenac, Margaux and Soussans, and before long he came to own much of the land which surrounded the Lamothe estate, at that time still in the hands of Jehan de Lory and family.
Pierre married Olive de Lavergne (died 1630) and their ever-expanding estate would eventually be bequeathed to their daughter, Olive de Lestonnac (1572 – 1652). She was a well-connected individual who had married well, first in 1600 to Louis de Gentils (died 1613) and then after his death in 1617 to Marc-Antoine de Gourgues (1575 – 1628), Baron de Vayres and the premier président of the Bordeaux parliament, an office he assumed on December 27th 1616. She continued to acquire local properties, and eventually this included the Lamothe estate, which was now augmented by a good-sized vineyard. She did not stop here though, as she continued to buy and exchange land, building up a huge estate, at the heart of which sat the Lamothe property.
After Olive’s death the property was inherited by the family of a cousin, Françoise de Lestonnac. She was the daughter of Richard de Lestonnac (1527 – 1595) and Jeanne Eyquem de Montaigne (1536 – 1612), and in 1582 she married Jean d’Aulède. Together they had a son, Pierre d’Aulède. Pierre also had a son, borne by his wife Catherine de Mullet. It was this latter son who would take the Margaux estate in hand.
