wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

The vineyard is located in the municipality of Cantenac in the Margaux area of the Médoc (Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux). In 1661, the merchant Pierre des Mesures de Rausan (Rauzan) bought a large plot of land from the de Gassies family. This subsequently gave rise to the wine estates Château Marquis-de-Terme, Château Rauzan-Gassies, Château Rauzan-Ségla and the present Château Desmirail. One of his daughters brought a portion of the estate as a dowry when she married the lawyer Jean Desmirail. This gave the estate its current name. Thereafter, the estate changed hands frequently, including Robert de Mendelssohn, a nephew of the German composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). After the First World War, the fragmented vineyards were auctioned off and the Château Desmirail brand disappeared from the market.

Château Desmirail - Gebäude

Lucien Lurton painstakingly put the pieces of the puzzle back together from 1970 onwards. He also acquired the château in 1981 and handed over the resurrected estate to his son Denis in 1992. In the Bordeaux classification of 1855, the estate was classified in third place (Troisième Grand Cru Classé). The estate covers 66 hectares, of which 30 hectares are planted with vines. The red wine varieties Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Merlot (15%) and Cabernet Franc (5%) are cultivated. The long-lasting red wine is matured for 12 to 18 months in barriques, one third of which are new. The second wine is called "Château Fontarney" (for the French market) or "Initial de Desmirail" (for export).

Picture: Château Desmirail

Voices of our members

Hans-Georg Schwarz

As honorary chairman of the Domäne Wachau, it is the easiest and quickest way for me to access the wein.plus encyclopaedia when I have questions. The certainty of receiving well-founded and up-to-date information here makes it an indispensable guide.

Hans-Georg Schwarz
Ehrenobmann der Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,379 Keywords · 46,984 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,713 Pronunciations · 202,114 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS