Chateau Lascombes

In the 1600s the estate belonged to Antoine, chevalier de Lascombes, and since then has kept his name. Some locals suggest the estate, which is situated on the highest knoll of Margaux, takes its name from "la côte" (French: height) via "lascote" to "lascombes”. Antoine de Lascombes (born 1625) inherited or took possession of the estate from the Durfort de Duras family.

In the 18th century the domaine was separated from the property of the comtes de de Duras and was inherited by Jean-François and Anne de Lascombes. Jean-Francois was a councillor in the parliament of Bordeaux, king’s procureur at the Admiralty and member of the Académie de Bordeaux. The vineyards remained in the Lascombes family for three generations until just after the French Revolution, bearing the name Domaine de Lascombes.

Through inheritance and sales the estate passed through a rapid succession of owners until it was formed into a company in 1926 with the Ginestet family, then owners of Margaux, as major shareholders. Following the Normandy landings the estate was used as a base of operations for Allied forces.

In 1952 Alexis Lichine and a syndicate of eager American investors, including David Rockefeller, bought the chateau. Lichine improved the vineyards through a his wealth of expertise and stern commitment. In 1971 the backing company was subsumed by the British brewing company Bass Charrington.

Following the new ownership of the Bass group winemaker René Vanatelle took over the vineyard management. He performed an exhaustive evaluation of the terroir which now extended to 84 hectares. He found that only 50 hectares produced wines of second growth quality. In 1980s he isolated these quality sections of land to produce the grand vin while using the lesser quality terroir to produce a second wine – Chateau Segonnes.

In 2001 the estate was snapped up for $67,000,000 by US company Colony Capital, headed by Yves Vatelot. The new owners greatly modernised Lascombes and the wines have been greatly praised by critics. Michel Rolland serves as consultant of oenology.

The vineyard area comprises of 84 hectares with grape varieties 50 percent Merlot, 45 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Petit Verdot being present. It produces 250,000 bottles of its grand vin.