Château Prieuré-Lichine: Vineyards
It is impossible to miss Château Prieuré-Lichine as it sits right alongside the main road as it runs through the village of Cantenac, next to the Église Saint-Didier. Closely gathered around it are numerous other famous names of the Margaux appellation, including Château Desmirail, the entrance to Château d’Issan and just on the other side of the railway line, Château Kirwan. Having said that, the vineyards of Château Prieuré-Lichine are naturally – in view of Alexis Lichine’s many acquisitions – spread far and wide across the appellation.
Today the estate accounts for an impressive 85 hectares of the Médoc, although of this only 77.5 hectares are planted to vines. Most of the vineyards lie to the north of Cantenac, on one of the Quaternary gravel ridges that characterise the soils of the peninsula. As already noted in my profile, however, a significant development came in October 2013, when the Ballande Group acquired Château Pontet-Chappaz, a Margaux cru bourgeois estate; the 7.5 hectares this brought to the Château Prieuré-Lichine vineyard are located in Arsac, a little way to the southwest.
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