The winery is located in the commune of Labarde in the Margaux area of the Médoc(Bordeaux). The origins of this traditional estate date back to 1330, with the first documentary mention of a vineyard or vineyard cultivation dating back to 1552. It is said that the French Sun King Louis XIV (1638-1715) already appreciated the wines. In 1789, during the turmoil of the French Revolution, the then noble Saint-Simon family who owned the estate were expropriated. After several changes of ownership, the Parisian banker Comte von Pescatore finally acquired the estate in 1847, had the magnificent château built and received Eugénie de Montijo (1826-1920), the wife of Emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873), there.
After the Second World War, it was acquired by Nicolas Tari (1906-2002), who had an eight-hectare artificial lake created to influence the microclimate. In 1970, his son Pierre Tari (who took part in the legendary Paris Wine Tasting in 1976) took over the estate. In 1995, two thirds of the land and a majority stake in the operating company were sold to the Dutchman Eric Albada-Jelgersma, who died in 2018. This was followed by repeated conflicts over the direction of the estate and urgent investments, which lasted almost three decades. At the end of 2023, the Albada-Jelgersma family took over all the assets and therefore all the land on the estate. Now the long-discussed renovation of the winery is to be realised. The Tari family withdrew completely from the operating company.
In the 1855 Bordeaux classification, the estate was categorised as Troisième Grand Cru Classé (3rd rank). The total estate comprises 400 hectares of land. Of this, 81 hectares are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (53%) and Merlot (42%), with the small remainder planted with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot (5%). The planting density is a high 10,000 vines per hectare and almost a quarter of the vines are older than 40 years. After a classic mash fermentation, the extremely long-lasting red wine matures for 18 months in barriques. Malolactic fermentation has been carried out in wooden barrels since the early 1990s. The second wine is called "La Sirène de Giscours". On average, around 300,000 bottles of wine are produced each year.
In 1998, there was a major scandal when illegal practices such as unauthorised must sugaring and the use of oak chips were uncovered, particularly in the second wine of the 1995 and 1996 vintages. Jelgersma, who was obviously unaware of what was going on, then replaced a large part of the team, including the oenologist.
Image: by Ken Case - Own work, Public domain, Link
