Château Prieure-Lichine

Thanks to a land donation from the Lords of Blanquefort, the priory of Saint-Didier de Cantenac was founded in the Romanesque era by the Saint-Augustin canons regular of the abbey of Vertheuil around the year 1000.

During the Anglo-Gascon period of Guyenne (1154-1453), the abbey was a major stopping-off point in the Médoc for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. It also owned the greatest wine estates of the Médoc. In 1444, the wines produced at the Prieuré de Cantenac were at the top of the wine hierarchy of that era and were taxed by the King at the same rate as the wines of Hermitage and Clos de Vougeot, according to the Hull customs records of 1444 Margaux was therefore already gaining renown for its wines.

In 1399 vines were wrecked by English sailors as they came up the Gironde estuary. At Margaux they went into the vines and broke off young fruit -bearing shoots to use as firewood for their grill in the port of Bordeaux. This sacrilegious treatment of the sacred plant of Bordeaux caused ill-feeling among the population and brawls broke out. History records show that a fight occurred between two Bordeaux villages over loyalties to the English throne. This difference of opinion was settled in 1405 with an honourable duel in Nottingham, in the presence of England’s King Henry IV. Undeniably, as early as the Middle Ages, the high rank of wines from the Margaux area and those of the Prieuré de Cantenac was already clearly established.

From the 12th to the 18th centuries the priory of Cantenac and its monks not only provided religious services to the Saint Didier parish but also worked the fields. Vines, crops, orchards, grazing land and woods made up the twenty hectares of the ecclesiastic estate which surrounded the old priory and the Romanesque church, which have today disappeared. It was only from the period of “the mad rush to plant”, mainly during the reign of Louis XV (1723-1774), that the whole of the land belonging to the priory of Cantenac was completely turned over to vineyards. During the French Revolution, this church property was not subject to requisition thanks to the activism of its priest. It was only during the period of the First Empire that the Priory of Cantenac and its lands were sold to a dynasty of Bordeaux city-dwellers. Because of its very ancient monastic and medieval roots, Château Prieuré-Lichine is an exception within the Great Classified Growths of 1855, the rest of whom originally belonged to either the nobility (the oldest estates) or the bourgeoisie (the most recent ones).

After half a century of progress in wine quality and a restructuring of the vineyard, the Prieuré growth was promoted in 1855 to the rank of 4th Classified Growth of Gironde. Numerous diseases, such as powdery mildew, downy mildew and phylloxera adversely affected the property, which nevertheless coped well until the interwar period, before collapsing again during the period of the Great Depression and the 1929 stock market crash.

At the time of the outstanding 1953 vintage, when Alexis Lichine vinified his first crop, the estate had shrunk to just a few hectares of vines. Under the careful guidance of the Durand Delains wine merchant house, whose cellars were located in Bordeaux’s historic Chartrons wine quarter, the price of Prieuré rose sharply. By 1823 it had reached 1,800 francs a tonneau (against 600 francs in the reign of Napoleon 1st). This increase occurred in a period devoid of inflation and lasted until 1855, the year in which "Le Prieuré de Cantenac" officially became Fourth Great Classified Growth. Its vines had been registered in the third category of the Monarchy’s land register, but the addition of a fifth class to the hierarchy upset the old order. Before 1855, opinions on Prieuré’s rank varied. Frank et Cocks put it in the 4th class, whereas D’Armailhacq kept it as a third classed growth. The honours awarded by the 1855 Imperial Classification were received by the widow of Judge Pagès. The latter had acquired the estate in 1838 and died without a direct heir in 1852.

When during the October 1917 Revolution, a little 4-year old boy left Moscow with his parents for France, nothing suggested that he was destined for an illustrious career in wine. Towards the end of the interwar period in Paris however, the young Alexis was to acquire some early commercial experience in that field. He then developed a passionate interest in wine and, after gaining experience both in the international market and in direct sales to private customers (much in fashion in those days), Alexis Lichine widened his wine horizons and left for his first stay in the United States. During the Second World War he was called up and took part in the American landings in Provence in August 1944. Promoted to the rank of Major and aide-de-camp for General Eisenhower, Alexis Lichine, once demobbed, returned to France (his first adopted country) to visit the vineyards and taste the wines.

Scanning many of the European vineyards to replenish the cellars of the prestigious New York Waldorf-Astoria hoteland those of the famous French restaurant, Antoine, in New Orleans, he then created his own range, "Sélections Alexis Lichine". His knowledge of wines was vast, and sensing that wine-growing was in his blood, he sought a vineyard area where hecould produce his first wine. He was drawn to Burgundy in 1949, but it was Margaux, two years later, which finally captured his heart. Supported by business partners that were also passionate wine enthusiasts, he first of all acquired Château Prieuré-Cantenac, the 1855 4th Classified Growth, and then Château Lascombes, the 1855 2nd Classified Growth. Aside from his international image and imposing personality, Alexis Lichine, was also a real Médoc vine-grower, whose natural warmth and sense of conviviality were greatly appreciated in the somewhat stuffy Bordeaux wine trade of that time.

The soils of Château Prieuré-Lichine are essentially made up of gravel deposited by the river during successive glacial floods in the Quaternary era. Streams resulting from the floods then cut up these sedimentary soils into well drained mounds, which today look out over the Gironde estuary. Château Prieuré-Lichine therefore boasts a unique geological past, making the soils, in more ways than one, particularly representative of the Margaux appellation.

The great vineyard soils of the Médoc in general, and of Margaux and Château Prieuré-Lichine in particular, are essentially composed of gravel, a conglomerate of pebbles, gravel, sands and clay sediments brought by the river. The evolutions of the Garonne river-bed over the last 2 million years have brought sedimentary gravel layers at different times and of different types on an older limestone substratum dating back to the Tertiary era. Poor and without any real structure in its natural state, these soils have excellent drainage qualities and offer no obstacle to deep penetrating vine roots. Many years ago, two types of gravel were observed : fine and coarse; with the latter being much preferred since this was present in the soils of the great growths.

Today, the high terrace gravel soils inland are designated by the term Pyrenean gravel, whereas those running alongside the river are called Garonnese gravel or Günz gravel (in reference to the first of the six glacial/temperate cycles in the second part of the Quaternary era). This coarse gravel brought by the glacial flooding caused by the melting of the glaciers formed a uniform layer that would then be sculpted by erosion. This was how well-formed mounds of gravel suitable for the establishment of an elite wine region came about during the Quaternary era.

In the Médoc, Margaux is an exception, since during the last Würm glacial cycle the main river-bed sank down on the right bank, sparing a part of the sediments on the left bank. Unlike Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac and Saint-Julien, where the main river-bed of the Gironde estuary lies at close proximity, thegravel terraces were much better preserved.

In its viticultural practices, as in its choice of varietals, the Château Prieuré-Lichine technical teams are guided by the concern to make the qualities of the vineyard’s terroir durable and optimise its expression. Preserving the terroir capital in using viticultural practices that respect the vineyard’s soil, its richness and its balance. A varietal-mix in the purest Margaux-Médoc tradition with Cabernet Sauvignon which performs magnificently in soils on gravel mound-tops and terrace edges. Merlot is more suited to lighter marsh soils while Petit Verdot, a complementary varietal, needs soils with more clay.The white varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, produce good results particularly in soils containing massive gravel behind river banks, since they maintain the daytime heat and reflect it on to the vines at night.

The varietals at Prieuré-Lichine are made up of : 50 % Cabernet-Sauvignon, 45 % Merlot, 5 % Petit Verdot

This relatively high proportion of Merlot is accounted for by the fact that the Margaux appellation is located within a part of the Médoc peninsular where soils have more clay and less deep gravel, and are better suited to the balance of this varietal. All the finesse of the Merlot is brought out on these clay soils, unlike the Cabernet Sauvignon which performs best on well-drained deep gravel soils. The Petit Verdot is situated on a mound of deep gravel and brings its own personal touch to the final blend. Immediate priority was given to the vineyard as soon as the estate was taken over in 1999 :

A new map of the vineyard was drawn up for a better identification of each individual plot.

-A 15-year plan was launched to replant plots.

-Vine canopies were raised to enhance grape ripening.

-Regular monitoring of the vines enabled an environmentally-friendlier viticultural approach.

-Early de-leafing was introduced for enhanced grape ripening followed by a second de-leafing if necessary to ensure

optimal vine health.

-Bunch thinning in summer was begun in order to adjust crop load.

Careful monitoring of the bunches together with laboratory analyses enable us to plan the order of picking for each plot. The grapes are picked using small crates and undergo a first sorting in the vines.

The bunches are taken to the vat cellar (or the property) for a second sorting. In order to ensure that only the perfectly ripe fruit is selected, the berries are sorted one by one on an optical sorting line. Since 1999, the berries are no longer crushed before being sent to concrete or stainless steel vats of different sizes depending on the typicity of each vineyard plot.