Domain: Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

“A First Class Second Cru” was how the Wine Spectator magazine very aptly described Château Pichon Lalande! The latter was created as a result of the splitting of the original Château Pichon Longueville in 1850 when the owner established his children’s inheritance: his son took charge of the current Pichon Longueville Baron, while his daughter, Virginie, who was married to the Comte de Lalande, received the other part of the property, hence the addition of “Comtesse de Lalande”. A determined figure with a passion for wine, Virginie oversaw the property's rise and its establishment in its own right. It remained within her family until 1925, when it was purchased by Edouard and Louis Miailhe.From 1978 to 2007 the domaine was managed by another grande dame: Edouard Miailhe's daughter, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing. Grand Chancellor of Bordeaux's Wine Academy, she was known as La Générale, thanks to her husband's military career. The feminine influence of the Comtesse a century earlier could not have found a finer echo, and Pichon Lalande's impassioned history is reflected in the special affection that connoisseurs have always had for the château's wines. The property was purchased by the Rouzaud family in 2007, the owners, among other interests, of Roederer champagne.