CHATEAU D'ARMAILHAC

This high quality, 69-hectare Fifth Growth estate in Pauillac was once part of the mighty Mouton Rothschild, and is indeed owned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. The name comes from one of its first owners, Dominique d’Armailhacq, and by 1740 the wine was being marketed as Mouton d’Armailhacq.

Debt eventually buried the d’Armailhacq family, and with their château remaining unfinished, it was quite possibly the construction costs that put them out of business. Whatever the reason, they flicked it off to the Ferrand family, and in 1933, a young Baron Philippe de Rothschild snapped it up from the Ferrands on his way to glory.

The gravel, clay and limestone soils of the property are today planted in 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, with some of the oldest vines in the Médoc found here.