Author: Mike McDuff

Back in the XII century, the place was called “La Mothe de margaux” as there was a distinct mound free of vines across the normally quite flat Médoc. It was the Lestonnac family from 1572 to 1582 that operated the change and structured the estate as it still is today to benefit from the claret…

The oldest document mentioning Latour dates back to 1331. It is an official authorization granted to Gaucelme de Castillon by Lord Pons to build a tower in the St-Maubert land. The Saint Maubert tower was a defensive fortress during the hundred year war. After decades of inheritance, marriages and changes of ownership, the estate came…

Château Palmer is one of the most stunning Castle in Médoc, the work of the architect Charles Burguet, to whom Bordeaux also owes two wings of its Museum of Fine Arts and its market of the Chartrons. It’s in the middle of the Margaux Appellation, with a stunning view on the Margaux church. Built in…

“Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change”. “First I am, second I was, Mouton do not change.” Château Mouton-Rothschild was once part of the Ségur ownership along with Lafite and latour. It was only in 1853, when Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild acquired the piece of land that the mouton name came along. However,…

The well-known beachfront destination you can’t miss when going to Bordeaux. Just an hour away of the Métropole, Arcachon is just a burst of sunshine, and sunsets, warm, golden sand and of course the local oysters. The town on the south side of the triangular Arcachon Bay, lured bourgeois Bordelaise at the end of the…

The very first harvests at Pape Clément took place in 1252 within the ownership of Bertrand de Goth. He was cadet of a noble Bordeaux family, then archbishop of Bordeaux, then Bertrand de Got became Pope in 1305 under the name of Clement V. This is where the Château inherited its name from and its…

Château Chauvin has first started as part of the bigger fief of Corbin, until it was divided at an auction in1852. Nearly 40 years later, Victor Ondet looking for a “folly”, a country residence bought the estate. It is through his ownership and the next Ondet generations that the estate prospered and became part of…

Le Chapon Fin is truly an historic establishment. It’s the kind of restaurant with a strong personality and a loyal devotion to its roots but with enough modernity to withstand the challenge of time and competition. Created in 1825, on the newly designed star shaped street around the market of the time which is now…

Between a hotel and a chambre d’hôtes, it is behind a big, heavy grey door on a little street in the heart of the old town, with just a discreet sign that we found La maison Bord’eaux. It is in a former coaching inn of the 18th century right next to the oldest architecture of…

Château Haut-brion was so recognized and outstanding already back in 1855 that it just couldn’t be left out of the famous Médoc classification. In fact, it is the only First growth outside of Médoc, situated in Pessac Leognan. The property derives its name from an ancient Celtic term “Briga.” This can be translated as “hill”…