Which Came First, the Village of Margaux or Château Margaux? The Answer Is Neither

As the previous story explained, Margaux was one of the four châteaux placed in the First Growth tier when the 1855 Classification was first drawn up. Yet its name has another unusual feature. Among those original four, Margaux alone bears exactly the same name as the land it represents: the Margaux appellation. Mouton, Latour, Lafite, and Haut-Brion all have names different from their villages.

Why, then, did the château, village, and district all come to share the name “Margaux”? To find the answer, we must go back much further than the classification.

Basic Information

A Journey Through the Name: The Place Became a Château, and the Château Became a Village

A 12th-century record contains the name of this land before either a château or vineyard existed: “La Mothe de Margaux,” a place name referring to a well-drained rise, something especially valuable in the Médoc. At that point, there was neither wine nor even a building here.

A manor was eventually built on the land and came to be called Château Margaux. A settlement then formed around it and inherited the same name, “Margaux.” This, according to the château’s official history and other records, was the beginning of the village. The place name came first, the château second, and the village last. That sequence made Margaux the rare example of a château that bears the appellation’s own name.

The Torrent of Revolution and a Residence Its Builder Never Occupied

In the 18th century, Margaux belonged to the Fumel family, who later became related by marriage to the du Barry family. When the French Revolution swept through the country, the head of the household was executed and the château confiscated. Margaux, too, could not escape the turbulence of its age.

After ownership changed several times, the Marquis de La Colonilla acquired the estate in the early 19th century. Already over 70 years old, he commissioned the Bordeaux architect Louis Combes in 1810 to build a Neoclassical residence. Construction is thought to have been completed around 1815, but the marquis died in 1816 without ever living in the house he had ordered built.

That unoccupied residence later came to be known as the “Versailles of the Médoc.” Although no one can say with certainty who first used the phrase, it still stands among the vineyards as one of France’s relatively rare examples of Neoclassical architecture. Having survived confiscation during the Revolution and renewed its residence, Margaux was counted among the original four First Growths in 1855.

1977, the Year of Revival, and the Next Generation

In the 20th century, a downturn in the Bordeaux wine market left the owner at the time, the Ginestet family, in debt and compelled to sell the château. In 1977, it was purchased by André Mentzelopoulos, a Greek-born French businessman. He immediately began reforming vineyard management and winemaking.

When he died suddenly in 1980, his daughter Corinne Mentzelopoulos took over. She appointed Paul Pontallier as managing director and winemaker in 1990, and in 2003 bought the shares held by the Agnelli family, bringing the estate fully under her family’s ownership.

Then, in October 2023, Corinne handed management to her son Alexis. Alexis became CEO, while his elder sister Alexandra became chair of the supervisory board of the family holding company. Both had already worked at the château: Alexandra since 2012 and Alexis since 2020. Ownership and management have remained in the Mentzelopoulos family since 1977.

What has passed from generation to generation is not only the position at the head of the estate. The second wine, Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux, is also said to be one of the Médoc’s oldest, with a history on this land reaching back to the 17th century. It has carried its present name since the 1906 vintage. The wine’s name, like the château itself, bears the weight of history.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• The order of the name: Among the original four First Growths of 1855, Margaux alone bears the same name as its appellation. The name passed in sequence from the place, La Mothe de Margaux, to the château and then to the village.
• The residence its builder never occupied: The present grand building is a Neoclassical residence begun in 1810. The Marquis de La Colonilla, who commissioned it, died in 1816 and never lived there.
• Family ownership since 1977: The Mentzelopoulos family has owned the estate since purchasing it in 1977. In October 2023, management passed to the third generation: Alexis as CEO and his sister Alexandra as chair of the supervisory board.