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Origin and history

The Château de Rochemorin, located in Martillac en Gironde, is a winery whose architectural origins date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. It appears on the maps of Cassini (18th century) under the name Rochemorin, then under variants like Nochemorin (1820–66) or Roche Morin (1950). The site, at 50–55 m above sea level, was initially a fortification linked to resistance to the Moors (theoretically the VIIIth century), before becoming a seigneury in the 14th century. The estate, owned by the family of La Lande (XI-15th centuries), passed to the Pesnel, then to the Montesquieu in 1686 by the marriage of Marie-Françoise de Pesnel with Jacques de Secondat, Baron of Montesquieu.

Acquired in 1609 by the Montesquieu family, the castle was ravaged during the Fronde (1653) and then restored. The northwest pavilion, the west lodge and a wall of the southwest pavilion date back to the 15th-15th centuries, while the northeast pavilion (late 16th–early 17th) and outbuildings (late 17th–15th) complete the whole. A chimney bears the date of 1756. The estate, where Jean-Baptiste de Secondat (son of Montesquieu) was born in 1716, produced white wine and a claret (clear red) appreciated by the English. Jeanne de Lartigue, wife of Montesquieu, manages the estate after 1755, now the wine production.

The castle remained in the Montesquieu family until 1919, when it was sold to the Beaumartin Establishments, then passed into several hands (Billiard in 1941, Ch. Cante) before being bought in 1973 by André Lurton. The latter modernises the infrastructure between 2003 and 2005, building a contemporary cellar 550 m from the old, while restoring the historic buildings. The estate, registered with the Historical Monuments in 1990 for its facades, roofs and interior elements (like two chimneys), today perpetuates the wine tradition of Pessac-Léognan, with red wines (merlot, cabernet) and white wines ( Sauvignon, semillon).

Two theories explain the origin of the name Rochemorin: the first links the site to a resistance against the Moors (La Roche Morine), the second to Jean de Amelin, seigneur of the Périgord, who would have acquired a noble house named Beaubois before forming the estate. The wine plots, re-membered over the centuries, now cover 17 ha in white and 51 ha in red (2024), on soils of severe and clay. The castle, open to the visit, bears witness to the architectural and wine heritage of the Gironde.

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