Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste

The Grand-Puy-Lacoste family history archives date back to the 16th century. The first recorded owner was M. de Guiraud, a member of the Bordeaux parliament. The estate usually passed down female lines of inheritance and was the dowry in successive marriages. One of M. de Guiraud's daughters married M. de Jehan, another MP. Their son, Bertrand de Jehan, had a daughter who inherited the estate and married M. d'Issac. Traditionally, an owner's name was appended to a place name (such as Grand-Puy), but the hereditary daughters took their husbands' names upon marriage, which explains the numerous name changes by which Grand-Puy is known. When d'Issac's daughter married a Bordeaux lawyer named Saint Guirons, the property became "Grand-Puy Saint-Guirons", it was their daughter, Marie-Jeanne de Saint Guirons, who married François Lacoste. With this marriage in the 19th century, the property took on the name of Lacoste. Still, the name Saint-Guirons remained a reminder of the bond between the two families and of the estate's heritage, so for a time the wines were labeled 'Saint Guirons-Lacoste'. François Lacoste and Marie-Jeanne de Saint Guirons had three children, and after the death of the couple, their son Pierre-Frédéric Lacoste inherited the property in 1844. Pierre-Frédéric Lacoste was an enterprising man who was very devoted to his estate. Like François-Xavier Borie the next century, Lacoste focused on quality and improving the wine's reputation. In 1855 he rebuilt the château, and that same year Grand-Puy-Lacoste's status was officially recognized by its inclusion in the official list of Bordeaux's Great Classified Growths.

The history of Grand-Puy-Lacoste is fascinating in many ways. It is a family saga dating back to the 16th century. The name Grand-Puy, already mentioned in documents from the Middle Ages, comes from the old term "puy" which means "little knoll, small height". The vineyard lives up to its name and is located on outcrops with a terroir similar to that of the first vegetation of the Médoc. From the 16th century, the property remained linked to a single family from generation to generation, in a direct line through marriage until 1920, before being linked to another family in 1978: the Borie.

The castle has been owned by the Borie family since 1978. Jean-Eugène Borie's eldest son, François-Xavier, gradually renovated the property in vineyard, cellars and château. The Borie family has a long history of winemaking at the highest level with properties such as Château Haut Batailley and Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, respectively 5th and 2nd Grand Cru Classé. François-Xavier is now assisted by his daughter Emeline, who is responsible for the château's PR. With the purchase of Grand Puy Lacoste, the Borie family has awakened a "sleeping beauty". Now the domain has great prestige and is at the top of the classification in Pauillac.

Grand-Puy-Lacoste is located in the Pauillac terroir, one of the six common appellations of the Médoc along the left bank of the Gironde. The Pauillac appellation is limited to the municipal district of 2,274 hectares. It boasts 18 properties classified in 1855 (about 85% of the appellation's total production). The commune is separated from Saint-Estèphe in the north by the marshy area of ​​Breuil and from Saint-Julien in the south by the hollow formed by the stream Juillac. The Grand-Puy plateau is located to the west of the village, above the hamlet of Bages. This offshoot of the grounds (called a "puy" in the old local dialect)