Château Rieussec: The Rothschilds
The Rothschilds in question are those of Château Lafite-Rothschild, and they took part-ownership of Rieussec along with Albert Frère who at the time also owned a share of Château Cheval Blanc. The Rothschilds were at this time already running Château Duhart-Milon, and investment in Château Rieussec must have seemed a wise move, as when Albert Frère sold up Domaines Barons de Rothschild consolidated their position and became sole owner of the Société Anonyme de Château Rieussec. Initially Alain Vuillier stayed on at the property, but in 1985 he was replaced as manager of the estate by Charles Chevallier, who guided activities at Château Rieussec up until 1994, at which point he moved further north in order to concentrate purely on Château Lafite-Rothschild.
Charles has long been a regular fixture at Château Lafite-Rothschild during the primeur tastings, and I suspect most visitors to the region will have associated him with this Pauillac property rather than the Rothschild estate in Sauternes. Nevertheless for many years he kept his hand in at Château Rieussec, his experience and knowledge of the estate perhaps too valuable to be ignored. After Chevallier’s departure, however, it was Frédéric Magniez who looked after the running of Château Rieussec on a daily basis, In November 2015 Chevallier retired from his role at Château Lafite-Rothschild, taking on a ‘senior advisor’ role for the Rothschild domaines. He was replaced by Eric Kohler.
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