Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Lamarque, located in the Médoc in Gironde, was originally a fortress border of Guyenne, built to defend the territory against Viking invasions. Its foundations, part of the defenses and chapel date from the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 14th century, Pons de Castillon raised the present castle, with dungeon, towers, poterne and merciless walls, while the seigneury welcomed figures such as the Duke of Glocester and Henri V during English domination in Aquitaine.

In the 15th century, after the attachment of Aquitaine to the crown of France in 1453, the castle became the residence of governors of Guyenne, including the Marshal of Matignon. The 17th century transformations, initiated by the Duke of Epernon, marked a transition to less military use. The French Revolution led to its sale as a national good, before Antoine de Sauvage acquired it in 1825 and developed a wine business there, gradually abandoning his defensive function.

The estate, whose vines have been attested since the 15th century, was acquired in 1841 by Pons Comte de Fumel, whose descendants still own it. Ranked in AOC Haut-Médoc and a member of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Château de Lamarque now combines a medieval architectural heritage with a historical winery reputation, illustrated by archives and geological maps dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

The fountain of the village, installed at an unknown date, represents an allegory of the Summer under the traits of Ceres, goddess of harvests, made by Mathurin Moreau for the foundry of Val-d的Osne. This molten monument, decorated with symbolic motifs such as lily or snake, bears witness to the local agricultural importance, complementary to the wine history of the castle.

Historical maps, such as those of the Anonymous (late 17th) and Belleyme (1785), confirm the excellence of Lamarque's terroir, originally reserved for seigneurial consumption. The estate now produces a main wine as well as a second wine, the D de Lamarque, perpetuating a wine tradition rooted since the Middle Ages.

Future

Château de Lamarque is a 35 ha wine estate.

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