The name of the widely ramified and highly influential Rothschild family empire is inextricably linked with the European banking and economic history of the last 200 years. In viticulture, members of the Rothschild family are also well known for their ownership of two of the most famous châteaux in the French commune of Pauillac in the Médoc. These are the two wine estates classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé, Château Lafite-Rothschild (French branch) and (only later) Château Mouton-Rothschild (English branch). Both the close relationship and the proximity of the two neighbouring vineyards have resulted in close links and a shared history for over 200 years.
There has always been open rivalry between the two long before the Rothschild families took over (Mouton in 1853 and Lafite in 1868). One of the first causes of conflict was the fight over the "Les Carruades" property, which is located right on the border between the two wine estates. In 1845, a fierce dispute broke out between the two wine estate administrators over the property, which was then decided in favour of Château Lafite.
BORDEAUX CLASSIFICATION 1855
The second major cause of conflict ten years later was the famous Bordeaux classification carried out in 1855, in which Lafite was classified as a Premier Grand Cru and Mouton only as a Deuxième Grand Cru. Mouton refused to accept this "dishonour" from the outset and Lafite savoured the triumph.
The third reason occurred in 1953, when Elie Robert de Rothschild (1917-2007), as the owner of Lafite, initiated the exclusion of Mouton from the "Association of Five" (the four Premiers at the time and Mouton) on the grounds that it was not a Premier Cru. The endeavour to elevate Mouton to the first rank was not supported by Lafite, in fact it was vehemently opposed. It is a joke that during the German occupation, the two wine estates were confiscated by the Vichy government in 1942 and run jointly.
On behalf of his father Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), Jakob Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868) settled in Paris in 1812, where he changed his first name to James. Here he founded the French bank branch in 1817. In 1822, he and his four brothers were awarded the hereditary title of "Baron" by Emperor Franz I (1768-1835) of Austria. In 1868, he bought the "Château Lafite" and added the family name "Rothschild".
However, he probably never saw his property, as he died in the same year. His three sons Gustave, Edmond and Alphonse left the management to a managing director and their children were also only shown the balance sheet each year. Although Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) revitalised viticulture in Palestine (now Israel) in 1882 with a donation of 60 million gold francs, he also paid little attention to the property in France.
Elie Robert de Rothschild
His great-grandson ElieRobert de Rothschild (1917-2007) served as an Allied soldier in the Second World War and was a leading figure in the family bank after his return. He also converted the former Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway company into a travel group with hotels and restaurants. In 1946, he took over the management of Château Lafite-Rothschild and was the first member of the family to become personally involved in the wine business. He always regarded Château Mouton-Rothschild as hostile competition and disparagingly referred to it as "this Deuxième Cru", alluding to the fact that it was not classified as a Premier Grand Cru until 1973.
Eric de Rothschild
In 1974, his fifth-generation nephew Eric de Rothschild(*1940) took over the reins. He studied engineering at the University of Zurich (ETH) and managed the family bank in Paris. He took a few oenology courses for his new job. His Italian-born wife Béatrice Caracciolo was an internationally sought-after photographer and painter. The family continues to exist with their children James (*1986), Saskia (*1987) and Pietro (*1988). Eric de Rothschild began an extensive expansion with the purchase of wine estates in Germany and abroad. Most of these were previously renowned but neglected estates. With his managing director Christophe Salin, everything was consistently organised along the same lines. The vineyards were replanted, the infrastructure renovated, the teams replaced by first-class professionals and strict quality controls introduced.
Domaines Barons de Rothschild
Today, the "Domaines Barons de Rothschild" empire manages vineyards totalling over 2,000 hectares. Within the large family, there are complicated ownership relationships with a number of ownership shares held by several members. Among the estates owned in France are Château d'Aussières (Corbières), Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild (Pauillac), Château L'Évangile (Pomerol), Château Paradis Casseuil (Entre-deux-Mers) and Château Rieussec (Sauternes). The foreign joint ventures with shareholdings are Bodegas Caro (Argentina), Los Vascos (Chile), Quinta do Carmo (Portugal) and, since 2002, Rocca di Frassinello (Maremma-Tuscany).
Another branch of the family that owns vineyards is also part of the main French line. This is Baron Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild (1926-1997), the grandson of Israel patron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) and nephew of Elie Robert de Rothschild. He built up a business and banking empire and founded financial institutions in Switzerland and France. In addition to developing Megeve into a winter sports resort in the French Alps, he financed major tourism projects in Martinique and Guadeloupe, was involved in the founding of the "Club Méditerranée" and held major stakes in Shell (oil) and De Beers (diamonds). Like his grandfather, he was a supporter of Israel.
Edmond owned a share in Château Lafite-Rothschild, but entered the wine business himself in 1973 with the purchase of Château Clarke, Château Malmaison and Château Peyre-Lebade. With huge investments, he had the majority of the vineyards cleared and replanted with the advice of oenologist Émile Peynaud (1912-2004) and modernised the cellar facilities. His son Baron Benjamin de Rothschild (1963-2021) inherited the majority of the estate and continued to expand the banks. His fortune is estimated at 2 to 3 billion Swiss francs. In 1997, the joint venture "Rupert & Rothschild" was launched in Paarl in South Africa between Antonij Rupert (son of a business tycoon) and the baron. The wines are named after the parents "Baron Edmond" and "Baroness Nadine".
Nine years before his brother Jakob (James), Nathan Mayer de Rothschild (1777-1836) founded the Rothschilds' English banking branch in London in 1808 on behalf of his father. His son Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812-1870) was the fourth child to be born. He married his cousin Charlotte de Rothschild (1825-1899) in 1842 and moved to Paris in 1850, where he worked for the bank of his uncle and father-in-law James de Rothschild (1792-1868) (the first owner of Château Lafite-Rothschild mentioned above). In 1853, he acquired the "Château Brane-Mouton" and renamed it Château Mouton-Rothschild. Nathaniel de Rothschild was crippled by a tragic hunting accident in 1855 and later became completely blind.
Nathan de Rothschild
His son Baron Nathan de Rothschild (1844-1884) became a French citizen and worked as a lawyer. He began to build the château of Château Mouton-Rothschild, but this was only completed by his widow Thérèse. However, Baronne Thérèse Rothschild only visited her estate sporadically and mostly left the management to her closest employees. After her death in 1920, her son Baron Henri de Rothschild (1872-1946) inherited the estate. However, the practising doctor and successful writer was not particularly interested in the estate. He passed it on to his then twenty-year-old son Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1922.
Philippe de Rothschild
Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) is the most famous of the dynasty. He began the then almost hopeless battle to be categorised as a "Premier Grand Cru Classé", which he only succeeded in doing in 1973. With a doctorate in mathematics and physics, he was a versatile man with no connection to the family bank. He raced cars and won the Bourgogne Grand Prix, founded the Pigalle theatre in Paris, wrote plays, worked as a film producer and translated English poetry into French. He also founded the long-standing tradition of artist labels. Since the 1945 vintage, the red wines have been labelled with small works of art by contemporary artists.
His first wife Lilli Pelletier de Chambre (1902-1945) was the only family member to die in a concentration camp. Their daughter Philippine miraculously survived Ravensbrück concentration camp as a small child. In 1954, the Baron married the American fashion designer Pauline Fairfax-Potter in his second marriage, which remained childless. He built Château Mouton-Rothschild into a first-class tourist attraction and established a wine museum with his wife. And it was not only because of the increased ranking of his wine estate that he led Château Mouton-Rothschild to world fame. Together with Robert Mondavi (1913-2008), he founded the Californian wine estate and the Opus One wine brand in 1979. Baron Philippe de Rothschild celebrated his 60th harvest with the 1982 vintage, which was categorised as the wine of the century. He experienced his last and 65th harvest with the 1987 vintage and died shortly afterwards in 1988.
Philippine de Rothschild & descendants
His daughter Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014) succeeded him. Her first marriage to the actor Jacques Sereys produced two children, Camille and Philippe. Her third child, Julien, was born from her marriage to the writer Jean-Pierre de Beaumarchais (*1944). Before entering the wine business in the 1970s, she was a well-known theatre and film actress under the stage name Philippine Pascale.
She commemorated her father on the 1987 vintage label designed by Swiss artist Hans Erni with the dedication: "A mon père, le Baron Philippe de Rothschild, rénovateur de Mouton, je dédie ce millésime de sa 65ème et dernière vendange - Mouton ne change" (To my father, Baron Philippe von Rothschild, renewer of Mouton, I dedicate this vintage of his 65th and last vintage - Mouton does not change). Philippe Sereys de Rothschild (*1963) has taken over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The siblings CamilleSereys de Rothschild (*1961) and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild (*1971) are co-owners and represented on the Supervisory Board.
Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A
The company has been trading under the name "Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A" since 1990. Its holdings include Château Clerc Milon, Château d'Armailhac and Château La Fleur-Milon (all Pauillac, Haut-Médoc), as well as Domaine de Baron'Arques (Languedoc), which was acquired in 2002. Abroad, there are the joint ventures Opus One (Napa Valley, California) and Concha y Toro in Chile with the red wine Almaviva. The company "La Baronnie" produces several branded wines, including the successful Mouton Cadet, which is exported worldwide. There is hardly a wine company in the world with such extensive merchandising. In addition to the wines, you can also buy T-shirts, posters, ties, calendars, glasses and corkscrews.
ROTHSCHILD MUSEUM
In 1994, the English financier Baron Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild (*1936) opened a wine museum and a sales cellar for all Rothschild wines in his magnificent Waddesdon Manor near London, which he inherited in 1988. He is thus the first member of the family to fulfil a "connecting" function within the Rothschild family branches. The castle also houses one of the most extensive art collections in the world. It was extensively restored up until 1998 and has since been transferred to the state as a voluntary foundation.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BRANCHES OF THE FAMILY
Today, the relationship between Lafite and Mouton has normalised. There is still competition, but it is far less aggressive than in the past. The two companies also pursue a slightly different philosophy. The "Baron de Philippe de Rothschild S.A." (Mouton) stands for a very personally managed family business. The "Domaines Barons de Rothschild S.A." (Lafite) operates rather discreetly and has little public presence. The red wines from the two main wine estates are also different in flavour, just like the soil. People either like one or the other more, the taste polarises, so to speak. Lafite is usually described as an elegant and brittle wine. Mouton, on the other hand, is considered an opulent to eccentric wine with a pronounced fruitiness.
Mayer Amschel Rothschild: By Elbert Hubbard, Public domain, Link
James de Rothschild: From Elbert Hubbard, Public domain, Link
Nathaniel de Rothschild: From Maull & Polyblank, Public domain, Link
Philippe de Rothschild: From Ron Zimmerman - Rothschild, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
