Chateau Duhart-Milon

It is not known exactly when the history of Chateau Duhart-Milon began, but already at the beginning of the 18th century, excellent vineyards were cultivated on the high-quality soils of the Milon hills, the harvest of which was used by the neighboring Chateau Lafite to create its second wine. Most of the land - just over 26 hectares - belonged to Monsieur Mandavi, another 14 hectares belonged to Madame Duhart, the widow of Sir Duhart, who, according to legend, was a pirate during the time of Louis XV, and in his old age settled in Pauillac. The "pirate house" existed in the port of Pauillac until the middle of the 20th century. This scene is currently depicted on the labels of wines from Chateau Duhart-Milon. According to the classification of 1855, the soils of Chateau Duhart-Milon, which was unique in that there was no Castle as such on the land, were awarded fourth place in the ranking of Pauillac wines. From the 1830s until 1937, the Château was owned by the Castelha family. Then it was sold, changed hands constantly, and eventually fell into disrepair - the quantity and quality of the grapes gradually declined, and after the terrible frosts of 1956, the vineyards were completely deserted. The Rothschild family bought the Château in 1962. "It would have been stupid not to buy such a beautiful vineyard next to Lafite," said Baron Eric de Rothschild. The area of the Château at that time was 110 hectares, of which only 17 were occupied by vines. Rothschild invested huge amounts in the Château and carried out important projects: drainage, uprooting and replanting of new vines, acquisition of neighboring plots, reintegration of vineyards, construction of new cellars.