Château d’Yquem: Ancient Origins
Long before the château we know today began to take shape on this particular hilltop within the modern-day Sauternes appellation, the land which is today home to Château d’Yquem’s vineyards was part of the estate of a high-ranking noblewoman named Aliénor d’Aquitaine (1122 – 1204), a name frequently anglicised to Eleanor d’Aquitaine. In 1137, at the tender age of fifteen years this young woman, set to become one of the most wealthy and influential in all Europe, inherited the duchy from her father Guillaume X d’Aquitaine (1099 – 1137) following his demise during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. On his deathbed he granted the guardianship of his daughter to the King of France, Louis VI (1081 – 1137), who no doubt – knowing of William’s wealth and huge dominion – readily accepted. You can read more of Guillaume X, Duc de Guyenne and Comte de Poitiers, in – strangely enough – my guide to the Haut-Poitou appellation.
In July 1137, only three months after the inheritance of her grand title and her father’s lands and other riches, Louis VI had married Eleanor off to his own son, Prince Louis Capet. Prince Louis had already been crowned junior king (in order to reduce the likelihood of inheritance disputes, it was commonplace for French kings of this era to anoint and crown their successor during their lifetime), and so Eleanor was set to be queen. And this did indeed come to pass when, only a few weeks later, Louis VI died of dysentery at Béthisy-Saint-Pierre. Prince Louis Capet, or Louis VII (1120 – 1180) as he would now be known, became senior king, and that which we know today as Château d’Yquem came into the ownership of the French crown.
