Part 1. Bordeaux
Chapter 4
The Story of Château Haut-Brion
(From the Gravel Hills of Graves to Bordeaux’s First Great Wine)
Chapter 3 can be found here…
Château Haut-Brion is located just a few kilometres southwest of the city of Bordeaux, on the gravelly rises of the historic Graves region.
Today the estate lies almost within Bordeaux’s suburbs, but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries these lands consisted of vineyards, orchards, and small agricultural holdings scattered across the countryside.
The history of Bordeaux wines in the seventeenth century can be seen as the coexistence of two very different worlds separated by little more than fifty kilometres.
On one side stood the ancient winegrowing district of Graves, south of Bordeaux.
It was here that Château Haut-Brion was located, planted on light, well-drained gravel soils that had proven suitable for viticulture long before major transformations took place elsewhere in the region.
The wines of Graves already enjoyed an established reputation and found eager buyers, including many in England.
On the other side lay the Médoc, north of Bordeaux, which at the beginning of the seventeenth century remained largely marshland.
Only through the efforts of Dutch hydraulic engineers did these lands gradually become suitable for vineyards.
The drainage of swamps, construction of canals, and development of drainage systems effectively created a new wine region where none had previously been possible.
In time, a quiet rivalry emerged between these two winegrowing areas—Graves and the Médoc.
During the seventeenth century, the advantage belonged firmly to Graves.
Its estates were the best known, and its wines already enjoyed steady demand on the English market.
Haut-Brion was among the first wines whose name became recognised beyond the region itself.
The Médoc, meanwhile, was still in the process of formation. Much of its land remained waterlogged and required extensive drainage work.
Only toward the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth did the Médoc begin to emerge as a fully developed winegrowing territory thanks to Dutch engineering expertise.
By the eighteenth century, the situation gradually began to change.
New estates appeared on the Médoc’s gravel terraces and rapidly built strong reputations.
By the nineteenth century, the Médoc had become the symbol of Bordeaux’s great wines and aristocratic winemaking.
This status was formally confirmed by the Classification of 1855, in which most of the highest-ranked estates belonged to the Médoc.
Against this backdrop, Graves did not disappear, but it moved somewhat into the background. Its role became quieter and less dominant.
Yet it remained home to one of Bordeaux’s oldest and most enduring names: Haut-Brion, the only estate outside the Médoc included among the highest rank of the classification.
Thus, the story of Bordeaux is not so much a struggle between two regions as a shift in the centre of gravity—from the old Graves to the new Médoc.
— 🍇 —
The story of Château Haut-Brion begins in the sixteenth century.
In 1525, the influential de Pontac family acquired vineyards on these lands.
Over time, they transformed a vineyard site on a gravelly rise—haut brion (traditionally interpreted as an Old French expression meaning “high hill”)—into a wine estate.
By the middle of the seventeenth century, under Arnaud de Pontac, the vineyards were already producing a wine that stood apart from other Bordeaux wines.
And it was being sold under the name of the estate itself: Haut-Brion. For its time, that was almost revolutionary.
💡 The tavern Pontack’s Head, which played such an important role in promoting the wines of the de Pontac family in London, did not survive beyond the eighteenth century. It operated for roughly a century before gradually disappearing amid changes in London’s urban life and the wine trade itself.
Its significance, however, far outlived the establishment. It was here that wine was first presented not simply as “Bordeaux wine” but as the product of a specific estate.
That idea survived long after the tavern vanished and became one of the foundations upon which the reputation of great wines was built.
London quickly forgets places—but remembers names for a very long time
— 🍇 —
► From the Seventeenth Century to the Classification of 1855
The estate’s reputation continued to grow throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. When the famous Bordeaux Classification was created for the Paris Exposition of 1855, Haut-Brion became one of only five First Growth wines.
What made this achievement particularly remarkable was that the other four wines in this elite group were all located in the Médoc.
Haut-Brion was the sole representative of Graves.
— 🍇 —
► The Dillon Family and the Rebirth of Haut-Brion
In the twentieth century, the fate of Château Haut-Brion became unexpectedly linked with America. In 1935, the estate was purchased by the American banker and diplomat Clarence Dillon.
Many Bordeaux estates were experiencing difficult times. The First World War, economic instability, and the Great Depression had all dealt severe blows to the wine industry.
Dillon, however, saw Haut-Brion as more than a wine estate. He saw it as a historic symbol of Bordeaux.
He was not a romantic Francophile, but he understood European culture and appreciated French wine.
His decision to purchase Haut-Brion combined practical business judgement with an appreciation of the estate’s symbolic value as one of Bordeaux’s oldest and most prestigious properties.
…Autumn 1935, Graves
The roads south of Bordeaux wind through vineyards that are already nearly empty after the harvest. Evening is approaching, and dense fog is rising from the Garonne.
A Rolls-Royce Phantom II moves slowly along a narrow country road. In the rear seat sits the American banker, Clarence Dillon.
He has come to France with a clear objective: to purchase a wine estate in Bordeaux. One particular property in Graves had attracted his attention, and that evening he was travelling to inspect it.
But the fog grows thicker and thicker.
The headlights illuminate only a few metres of road ahead. Several wrong turns follow, and before long it becomes obvious that they are completely lost among the vineyards.
— Are we on the right road? — Dillon asks.
The chauffeur merely shrugs.
A few minutes later, the outline of an old building suddenly emerges from the mist—low stone walls, small towers, and a long façade lined with windows.
The car comes to a halt.
Before them stands Château Haut-Brion.
Dillon steps out and spends several moments silently studying the house, barely visible through the fog.
When the estate manager appears, the banker asks:
— What estate is this?
— Haut-Brion, monsieur.
Dillon looks surprised.
This is not the property he had been seeking. Yet on that foggy night, fate has brought him here instead.
In fact, he had been considering several Bordeaux estates, and Haut-Brion had not been his first choice.
A few weeks later, he purchased it. The acquisition by an American banker came as a surprise to many people in Bordeaux. At the time, few were willing to invest heavily in an old wine estate. But for Clarence Dillon, Haut-Brion was not merely a country property. He saw both history and future within it.
After acquiring the estate, he embarked on an extensive programme of renewal. The winery was modernised, the vineyards restored, and quality controls strengthened.
His most important decision, however, was the appointment of an exceptional estate manager:
Jean Delmas.
As a foreigner, Dillon was forced to rely upon local expertise.
Delmas possessed both experience and an in-depth understanding of the local terroir. He was entrusted with the estate’s long-term development and gradually helped restore Haut-Brion’s reputation as one of the finest properties in Bordeaux.
The Dillon family succeeded in preserving a rare balance:
on one hand, they were pragmatic American owners;
on the other, the estate remained deeply French in spirit and tradition.
— 🍇 —
► Haut-Brion Today
Today the estate is managed by the third generation of the family, represented by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Clarence Dillon’s great-grandson.
The property forms part of the family-owned group Domaine Clarence Dillon, which also owns neighbouring vineyards and several well-known wine brands.
Yet despite changing eras and ownership, the principle first established by Arnaud de Pontac remains unchanged:
a wine must have a name—and that name can survive for centuries
The estate’s vineyards cover approximately fifty hectares and are planted with the traditional Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.
— 🍇 —
…St James’s Street, London, Present Day
This is where many of London’s finest wine merchants are located. Inside a historic building lined with dark wood panelling, the staff of one of Britain’s oldest and most respected wine merchants, Berry Bros. & Rudd, are preparing the new season’s catalogue.
Wine samples stand on a long table. Tasting notes have been printed out. Lists of prospective clients lie neatly arranged beside them.
One specialist picks up a bottle bearing a familiar label: Château Haut-Brion.
— This is the wine we offer to clients who are looking not merely for Bordeaux, — he says, — but for a specific producer’s name.
His colleague nods.
— Funny, isn’t it? Three hundred years ago, London was only beginning to understand that wine could be connected to a particular place.
He makes a note in the catalogue and carefully sets the bottle aside.
Outside, the familiar rhythm of modern London continues.
Yet the principle remains the same:
some people buy wine as a commodity; others buy it by name.
…Blackwood Hall, Southern England, Present Day
Lord B—t looks once more at a line on a dinner bill more than three centuries old:
“Two bottles of Ho Bryan.”
He carefully folds the document and returns it to the box containing the rest of his papers.
For a moment he reflects, then quietly says:
— Pepys wrote of a most particular taste. Three centuries later, I must agree.
He then reaches into a cabinet and takes out a bottle of Haut-Brion.
— 🍇 —
Epilogue
The story of great Bordeaux does not begin with the Classification of 1855.
Nor does it begin with the drainage of the Médoc marshes.
It begins at the moment when a winemaker decides that his wine should have a name—and that people far beyond his own land should know it.
In the seventeenth century, that was an exception.
Yet it was precisely such exceptions that gradually changed the rules of the game.
And that wine was Haut-Brion—the first name Bordeaux ever spoke aloud.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the market no longer demanded merely wine. It demanded a hierarchy of wines—clear, established, and officially recognised.
The result would be the Classification of 1855, a system that fixed the reputation of Bordeaux wines for generations to come.
Lord B—t understood something well:
the world of wine changes slowly—but one day, those changes become the rules
— 🍇 —
To be continued…
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