The Prieuré-Lichine
wine estate
Built on a Roman-era ecclesiastical dwelling, Château Prieuré-Lichine provides an historic stop-off at Cantenac in the heart of the Margaux appellation along the Médoc’s château route. Its wine-growing history is one of the oldest in the region. From the very beginning, the Prieuré’s wine was popular with parishioners such as those of Saint-Didier de Cantenac. Successive owners of the Château contributed, over the years, to its growing quality. Promoted to the rank of Grand Cru Classé in 1855, Château Prieuré-Lichine offers its visitors the elegance and finesse mirrored in its wines and the characteristic traits of Margaux, together with the peacefulness of its grounds and the exquisite intimacy of its tasteful country home.
The Prieuré-Lichine
terroir
Just as the history of the estate has been made up of multiple eras and styles, so too the vineyard of Château Prieuré-Lichine is composed of a constellation of different plots characteristic of the terroirs of Margaux, forming a patchwork of soil types that cover 5 of the appellation’s communes. Brought about by unique geological eras, these soils are essentially composed of gravel (conglomerates of pebbles, gravel, sands and clay sediments), deposited by the river during the breaking-up of glaciers during the Quaternary era. The terraces of Günz Garonne gravel, which are incredibly well-preserved and offer superb draining capacity, are the defining feature of the Margaux terroir.
Prieuré-Lichine's
tulip vat room
With its audacious, ingenious design, the new Prieuré-Lichine vat room offers the visitor an almost science-fiction-type atmosphere. Architecturally graceful and functional at the same time, the emblematic mark of the new Ballande family era, the style of the vat room acts as a bridge between the rotunda of modern-day architecture and the main historic 18th century structure. Designed by Sylvain Lagarde of the Archi Concept agency, this new cellar features 34 tulip and square-shaped concrete vats of different capacities enabling enhanced plot selection and more precision in the expression of the whole range of Margaux terroirs. The old vat room, which remains remarkably well-conserved, showcases the modernism of the Alexis Lichine era.
The Prieuré-Lichine
philosophy
The wines of Château Prieuré-Lichine, a jewel of the appellation, express the elegance, finesse and pedigree of great Margaux wines. The estate boasts a long tradition of warm hospitality, embodied by the flamboyant and affable “Pope of Wine”, Alexis Lichine, who dedicated his skills and gave his name to the property. The cellars and château are open all year round to visitors from all over the world to come and discover that special spirit found at the estate, share a love of wine, an appreciation of beauty and Margaux’s own brand of “art de vivre”.
The management team
Arriving in 2009, œnologist Etienne Charrier has brought to the estate his wide international experience of winemaking, particularly in his contributions to the restructuring of the vineyard and in the new technical approaches developed in tandem with wine consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt. Lise Latrille, who manages sales and the promotion of the estate around the world, focuses her work particularly on wine tourism development. She joined the team in 2000 after a ten-year period working for a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé.
The hospitality team
Laëtitia, Marion and Ana together carry on the hospitality tradition initiated by Alexis Lichine at Château Prieuré-Lichine in the 1960s. The hospitality team are multi-lingual and qualified with a balanced range of backgrounds and cultures. They receive wine enthusiasts from all over the world from Monday to Saturday all year round, and seven days a week from 1st April to 31st October. The estate won a “Best of d’or” Wine Tourism 2019 award in the category of Great Wine Capitals of the World Global Network for the quality of its hospitality.
The vineyard crew
The wine production crew is made up of experienced professionals originating from the Margaux area, who have been loyal to the estate for many years. Fifteen work as either vineyard workers, tractor drivers or team managers. All of them are single-minded in their determination to protect the high quality of the estate’s terroir using vine-growing methods that care for the soils and thereby enhance the expression of the terroir in the wines.
The cellar crew
This passionate team has always enabled Prieuré-Lichine's wines to express the fine characteristics of the rich and complex Margaux terroir.
Wines with
the Prieuré-Lichine signature
The First Wine of Château Prieuré-Lichine expresses all the qualities of a great Margaux wine. The estate also produces a Second Wine that displays attractive fruit with a succulent structure called Confidences de Prieuré-Lichine. Le Clocher du Prieuré, in the Haut-Médoc appellation is 100% Merlot and offers crisp fruit flavour and notes of fresh red berry fruits. The Blanc du Château Prieuré-Lichine is a limited release production expressing seductive notes of citrus and tropical fruit.
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