I have an inclination towards Bordeaux not only because of the wine but also because of the rich cultural heritage of the region. Here I wanted to dig deep and explore the 4 most important families of Bordeaux wines. While I would agree that there are other relevant families in Bordeaux, these families are pretty much Bordeaux wine royalty.
Ségur Family
The very influential French aristocratic family of Bordeaux wine timeline. The first in the long line was Jacques de Ségur, a native of Pauillac, who held the position of councillor in the Parliament of Bordeaux. In 1670, his wife Jeanne de Gasq brought the seigneurie (manor house) Lafite as a dowry to the marriage, which then developed into the Premier Cru Classé vineyard Château Lafite-Rothschild.
He subsequently expanded the vineyard holdings by planting new vines and purchasing additional vineyards until 1680. Among them was a plot called "Clos de Mouton", from which Château Mouton-Rothschild emerged.
Although she was a widower before she was even wedded to Jacques Ségur, Jeanne de Gasq still gave him seven children, and it is the second eldest, Alexandre. Their son Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur (1695-1755) became president of the parliament of Bordeaux.
Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur
Image credit: Calon Segur
Through his marriage with Marie-Thérèse de Clausel in 1719, they brought the Premier Cru Classé vineyard Château Latour, as a dowry. In 1730 he came into possession of a giant Calon property that held Château Calon-Ségur, and Château Montrose.
He also owned other vineyards in Médoc and Graves named Pontet-Canet, d'Armailhac. Probably the most famous representative of the family thus called a true wine-growing empire his own. A total of three of the wineries then classified as Premiers Crus in the famous Bordeaux classification in 1855 were part of his property. In total that's three first-growths, a second-growth, a third-growth and two fifth-growths.
However, the sizes and boundaries of the estates at that time did not exactly match those of today. The Marquis also recognized the quite different terroir of Lafite and Mouton, and made a separation. He was also fond of Latour and believed it to be a goldmine.
It was his friendship with Maréchal de Richelieu,that made his wine Chateau Lafite famous within royals. Once after Richelieu returned from Bordeaux; the King remarked, "Maréchal, you look 25 years younger than you did when you left for Guyenne!” Maréchal responded, "Does his Majesty not yet know that I've at long last found the Fountain of Youth? I have found that Château Lafite wines make invigorating cordials: They are as delicious as the ambrosia of the Gods of Olympus." In no time, Lafite was a sensation very soon.
While at Court, Louis XV nicknamed Alexandre "The Prince des vignes" or “The Prince of vines” when he visited his court. The king mistook the buttons on the Marquis' coat for diamonds and complemented on their quality. The king was then informed that those stones were actually the cut and polished rocks from the Marquis' famous vineyards. That was the love of one of wines of one of the richest man in Bordeaux.
However, Calon remained his favourite estate with the traditional saying: "I produce wine on Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon". Which is also the reason that Calon Segur adorns a heart on its label.
He established the hierarchies in wineries to take good care of the properties. A great group of vignerons led by a régisseur (general manager). The régisseurs took no chances with harvest: There were guards, and they had guns.
The King bequeathed the honour of Marquis on him later in life. Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur died in 1755 the richest man in Bordeaux. What became of his vinous kingdom after his death; the legendary classification in 1855.
His grandson lost Calon by 1778 and Lafite by 1784. Lafite still stayed in Ségur hands, as a powerful cousin bought it. He'd lose it only a decade later, along with his head, during the Reign of Terror. As all the owners of Nicolas-Alexandre's former estates, the family that made "the King's wine" should be sent to the guillotine. A morbid turn of events.
The Miailhe Family
The Miailhe family started in the wine trade in 1793 when Elie Miailhe was made courtier by royal grant. A courtier is the middle man between chateaux and negociants, traveling the region, visiting different wineries, tasting wines and guaranteeing to negociants that the wines are properly up to standards. A brokerage office of the same name only saw the light of day in 1818.
Successive generations exercised this profession without interruption. Jean Miailhe was the last to live from this activity, which he stopped in 1970. The first member of the Miailhe family to become a winegrower in the middle of the 19th century was Frédéric.
Frederic Miailhe, was the nephew of Mr. Leo Barbier; who bought over Château Siran in 1859 from the Toulouse Lautrec Family, the grandparents of the famous painter of Paris night life, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. After running the chateau until the end of the 1880’s, he was succeeded by, Frederic Miailhe, who managed the estate until the 1920’s. He was then followed by his two sons, Edouard and Louis Miailhe until 1960. Both of them were heavily involved into the brokeraging business during wine crisis between 1920-1950.
May Eliane de Lencquesaing
Edouard and Louis Miailhe, purchased Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in 1925. Edouard’s daughter, May Eliane de Lencquesaing, inherited the chateau in 1978 and ran the operations until 2007. It was under her leadership that Pichon Comtesse’s reputation flourished. The consistent quality, year after year, was simply indisputable. In 2007, May Eliane de Lencquesaing sold the property to the Rouzaud family, owners and descendants of Louis Roederer. She also established the Glenelly estate in South Africa.
William Alain Miailhe
Image credit: chateausiran.com
Brigitte and William Alain Miailhe (Edouard side of family) directed all the affairs of Château Siran. William Alain Miailhe, acquired Dauzac in 1965. In 1978 it was sold to Chatellier family of Champagne region. The couple managed the family’s wine domain for three decades until the torch was passed on to Edouard, representing the fifth generation of Miailhes. It was only recently, in 2007, that the 5th generation of the Miailhe family, represented by the Vigneron, became involved in the family’s long history in the wine business.
Edouard Miailhe of Château Siran
Image Credit: bodeboca
Louis descendants took the helm of Couffran. A winery set Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, a town neighbouring Saint-Estèphe in the Pauillac area. Often called the “Pomerol of the Médoc” because it is made nearly entirely from Merlot.
Louis Miailhe acquired the estate in 1924; he decided on the spelling change to Coufran and did the major restructuring of the vineyards by turning them mainly to Merlot. During his time he also acquired Château Verdignan. For the descendants of Louis, his son Jean remained at the helm in Coufran and in Verdignan. Since the 1980s, his two children Marie Cécile Vicaire and Eric Miailhe have taken over. They now take care of Coufran, Verdignan and then Soudars which is a total of 300 hectares (160 hectares under vines). Louis Miailhe family also part owned Château Palmer from 1938 to some around 1950.
The Miailhe family now operates Château Siran, Château Coufran, Château Verdignan and Château Soudars.
Siran is the longest family-owned château in Margaux and the third longest in the whole Médoc. The only families in the Médoc owning their châteaux longer than the Miailhes are the Bartons (of Léoville-Barton and Langoa-Barton) and the Rothschilds (of Mouton-Rothschild).
The Rothschild’s
As much as they have influenced different sectors like finance, real estate, and banking; the Rothschild family has seen similar fame and recognition in the wine world as well. The Rothschild name has been associated with premium wines for more than a century and a half. It started with big R’s of Bordeaux as I like to call them; Chateau Lafite and Mouton Rothschild.
This prestigious association of winemaking and Rothschilds began in 1853, when Château Brane Mouton in Medoc, Bordeaux was purchased by Baron Nathaniel Rothschild from Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur of another famous wine lineage. It was then renamed as Château Mouton Rothschild; the name is said to be derived from an old French word “motte”, which means little hill.
Baron Nathaniel Rothschild
Even though winemaking and quality improved, the journey of success for the winemaker took shape under Baron Nathaniel’s grandson, Baron Philippe de Rothschild. It was in 1922 when Philippe took over the helm of Mouton Rothschild.
Two years later in 1924, he insisted that all wines that were delivered to wine merchants should be bottled and sent rather than in barrels. He also started an everlasting trend of getting their wine labels designed by famous artists, which I feel is an added piece of art and history in a collector’s cellar. The first-ever was by famous graphic designer Jean Carlu in 1924 and then the next being in 1973 by Picasso.
1924 by Jean Carlu
The decision to bottling at chateau meant, there was a need of extra space. Came into picture the 100 meter long Grand Chai also known as, “the great barrel hall”.
1933 saw the acquiring of a wine trading business in Medoc that we today know as Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA (called BPDR in short) that produces and markets Mouton Cadet AOC wines. Baron always felt that Mouton Rothschild was deprived of the place in first growth classification in 1855; his long fight moved Mouton Rothschild to first growth in 1973.
It would be incomplete without mentioning the 1945 vintage. As a Jew, Baron Philippe de Rothschild had fled to Britain after escaping from prison, but once the war was over he returned to supervise the harvest at Mouton. While it was the most difficult harvest due to shortage of hands, and a reduced yield due to frosts on 2nd May 1945. The star is the label of the wine; A “V” appears on the label denoting the victory of Allied Forces in World War II. It makes it one of the most historic bottles from Bordeaux.
After the death of Baron Philippe in 1988; the helm of Mouton Rothschild passed on to her daughter Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. She became the chairman of the supervisory board of Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA.
Baron Philippe de Rothschild with daughter Baroness Philippine de Rothschild
Under her leadership, the company saw the launch of two distinguished wines. 1991 vintage saw the launch of Aile d’Argent, a premium white wine blend and Le Petit de Mouton Rothschild in 1993. Going off beat from the tradition of paintings on the labels, Baroness Philippine dedicated Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2003 to her grandfather Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild as the chateau completed 150 years.
Baroness was at the helm of Mouton Rothschild till 2014. After her demise, now her three children, Camille Sereys de Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, co-owner of the Château, are taking forward the excellence of their mother and the chateau.
Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA has explored and established other great wines in France like Chateau Clerc Milon, Château D’Armailhac in Bordeaux and Domaine de Baronarques in Limoux. Other countries as well, with Vina Almaviva in Chile and Opus One in California. They are also the winemakers of Escudo Rojo from Chile.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild
Lafite Rothschild has a much older history before its acquisition by the Rothschild family. The vineyards got the top not recognition under their then owners Segur family, another legendary family about whom I would love to write. The wine derives its name from an old Gascon term “la hite”, which means “hillock”, which means a small hill or mound as well.
The early 18th century saw the birth of the new term called “New French Clarets” in London where Lafite and its counterparts had started to receive rave popularity. They were sold in public auctions across the city and was also a favorite of their Prime Minister Robert Walpole.
Marquis Nicolas Alexandre de Ségur took advantage of this success to create a finer wine through improved winemaking techniques. The wine found new markets and in no time Marquis Nicolas Alexandre de Ségur was named “The Prince of Vines".
The 1855 classification of Medoc & Graves saw Lafite topping the list, where it was said to be the fines wine produced in the region.
Thirteen years later in 1968 entered the Rothschilds. Baron James de Rothschild, the head of the French branch of the family purchased Château Lafite and passed away 3 months after the purchase. 1868 Lafite was the highest-priced wine of the vintage year.
Baron James de Rothschild
World War II had a huge negative impact when both the Rothschild vineyards went under the control of a German Garrison Officer. By 1942 complete winemaking estates were dismissed and turned into an agricultural vocational school. After the re-acquisition of the estate in 1945, it was Baron Elie who was responsible for the re-establishment of the estate. Excellent vintages of 1945, 1947, and 1949 surely helped reconstruct of the chateau.
Following his footsteps, his nephew Baron Eric took the chateau to recovery after the 70’s crisis. He established new technical teams, worked on the limited use of fertilizers, renewed architecture to improve the wines and extended the reach of the chateau by acquisitions in France and other countries. The company is now headed by his daughter Saskia de Rothschild, who is running the house as Chairwomen.
Other than Chateau Lafite Rothschild the house has an impressive second wine called Carruades de Lafite.
Other than Chateau Lafite, the family also owns Château Duhart-Milon, Château Rieussec (Sauternes), Château L’Évangile (Pomerol), Château Paradis Casseuil and Domaine d’Aussières in France. Outside France they own Los Vascos (Chile), are partners in Bodegas Caro (Argentina) and have developed Long Dai in China.
Moueix Family
The Moueix family moved from Paris to St. Emillion in 1931 and went on to become one of the most influential names in Bordeaux wine world. It is about the son’s, Jean Antoine, Jean Jacques and Jean Pierre.
A time when the closed circles knew about the high quality of wines from the region but they had not yet garnered the popularity they deserved. Moueix saw a great opportunity in promoting this Merlot growing region and laid the stepping stone to its popularity.
The family moved to Château Fonroque which was their home. The couple and Jean Antoine had an ever growing liking for the estate. Following Jean-Antoine’s death in 1979, running of the estate was entrusted to Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, a family trading house created by Adèle and Jean’s youngest son Jean-Pierre. The estate’s story continued under the co-leadership of Jean-Jacques Moueix and his great-uncle Jean-Pierre Moueix.
Alain Moueix inherited the site in 2001, currently he is the estate consultant and also runs Château Mazeyres.
Alain Moueix
When Jean-Antoine Moueix (1878 – 1955) was summoned for military service to Libourne, he was very impressed by the quality of wine from the right bank. That’s where he decided to set up his trading company in 1902. In 1925, Antoine Moueix bought Château Taillefer in Pomerol, then in 1953, he went on to acquire Château Tauzinat l’Hermitage, a Saint Emilion Grand Cru. Currently led by Bernard Moueix.
The current portfolio of Antoine Moueix has 12 estates; Château Patache d’Aux in Médoc, Château Liversan in Haut Médoc, Châteaux Capet Guillier and Tour de Capet in Saint Emilion Grand Cru and Château Mirefleurs and Grand Renom in Bordeaux Supérieur. They also guide Château Blagnac Château Fonpiqueyre Château Laborde Château Lacombe Noaillac Château Leboscq Château Lieujean.
Jean-Pierre Moueix; born in 1913 was the youngest. He established his wine merchant business Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1937. One of the most important highlights of his wine career was his journey with Petrus. His partnership with Madame Edmont Loubat in 1943, then owner of Petrus. She took the wine to England and Moueix introduced it to the American market and gave the world the taste of this legendary wine.
Jean-Pierre Moueix
Image credit: moueix.com
In 1950, he began expanding his merchant business with the acquisition of several well-known vineyards, starting with Pomerol’s Château La Fleur-Pétrus, followed by Château Magdelaine, Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé, in 1952, and Château Trotanoy, Pomerol, in 1953.
He slowly started buying the shares of Petrus, and finally became the sole owner. He entrusted the care of Petrus to his son Christian for 38 vintages. Jean-François Moueix, his elder son, inherited the Petrus and in 2009 took over the management.
In 1970 he left his son Jean-François Moueix in charge of everything at Groupe Duclot, which was managed by him. In 2019, Jean François son Jean Moueix became the new CEO. Both father and son; Jean-François and Jean are co-owners of the famous Château Pétrus estate.
Jean Pierre Moueix left us in 2003 at the age of 90.
Jean Francois and Jean Moeuix
While Jean- François took over Groupe Duclot, his younger brother Christian Moueix born in 1946, joined the family business in 2007. With is passion of viticulture he took over the viticulture activities and later became the President in 1991, assuming the commercial responsibilities of the house. He completed acquisition of remarkable Pomerol sites, such as Château Hosanna in 1999, Château Providence in 2005, and the historic Château Bélair, Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé, in 2008.
The name of Château Bélair was chamged to Château Bélair Monnange honouring Adèle Monange, mother of Jean-Pierre Moueix who did so much to put Pomerol on the map. Adèle married Jean Moueix and at first, they lived in Paris and had creamery, but after a few years one of the cousins called them to say that there was a property in Saint Emilion, Château Fonroque for sale. The family moved down to Bordeaux in 1931 owning and staying at Fonroque and the rest is history.
Parallel development of their wineries like Dominus Estate, Napanook, Ulysees Vineyards was taking place.
Christian and Edouard Moueix
Image credit: moueix.com
Edouard Moueix born in 1977 joined the company in 2003 and became the third generation involved in the family business. Took his focus to distribution business to the left bank. Has been instrumental in carrying the legendary name of Moueix family.
The current portfolio has 13 estates in Bordeaux; Château Trotanoy, Espérance de Trotanoy, Château La Fleur-Pétrus, Château Hosanna, Château Latour à Pomerol, Château La Grave, Château Lafleur-Gazin, Château Lagrange, Château Bélair-Monange, Annonce de Bélair-Monange, Haut Roc Blanquant, Clos La Madeleine. In USA they own Dominus, Napanook, Othello, and Ulysses.
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