The Name of a Third Growth Never Disappeared from the Classification — Yet for 42 Years, the Wine Itself Did Not Exist. What Happened at Château Desmirail?

In the story of the Third Growths, we looked at the neighboring Château Palmer — a name that has remained unchanged in the Classification. But within the same Cantenac district of the Margaux AOC, there is another château carrying a different story: Château Desmirail. Classified as a Third Growth (Troisième Cru) red wine in 1855, its name has never disappeared from the classification table, right up to today.

But having a name on the classification table and having a wine that actually exists are not necessarily the same thing. From 1938 to 1980 — a full 42 years — not a single bottle of an independent wine bearing the name Château Desmirail was made. There was indeed an era when only the name remained on the table, while the substance behind it had dissolved into a neighboring château. The answer to the question above lies within that 42-year void.

A Lawyer's Family Name, a Vineyard Gained Through Marriage

The name Desmirail did not originate with a winemaking family. Jean(-Baptiste) Desmirail was an 18th-century Bordeaux lawyer. In 1741, through his marriage into the Rauzan-du-Ribaille family, he acquired this estate as part of his wife's dowry and gave it his own family name. Ever since, the estate has carried the name "Desmirail."

When the Classification was drawn up in 1855, the estate was owned by a Monsieur Sipière, who at the time served as the manager of Château Margaux. In this classification, Desmirail was placed among the red wine Third Growths under its unchanged name. Neither the original list nor any later record shows any renaming, division, or merger. At this point, the name was still nothing more than an entry on a piece of paper.

1938: Only the Name Remained

Eighty-three years after the Classification, Desmirail fell into financial difficulty. In 1938, the château building passed into the hands of the Marquis d'Alesme family (the Zuger family), while the rights to the vineyard and the brand name were sold to the neighboring Château Palmer. The building, the land, and the name each scattered to separate owners. From that year on, no independent wine made under the name Desmirail was produced. The entry on the classification table, meanwhile, went unrevised since its creation, as 42 years slipped by.

1980: The Name Was Bought Back

In 1980, Lucien Lurton bought back the Desmirail brand name and trademark from Château Palmer. But this was not a simple "restoration." The original parcels had not survived intact. Lucien reorganized vineyards that he and his father already owned in Margaux and, beginning with the 1981 vintage, revived the name as a standalone label. The name was resurrected on paper, but the vineyard beneath it was no longer the same as before.

In 1992, Lucien divided his holdings among his ten children, passing on ten châteaux, one to each. Desmirail went to his son Denis Lurton, then 33 years old and qualified as a lawyer. In the same inheritance, one sibling received the Second Growth Durfort-Vivens and another received the Second Growth Brane-Cantenac, so the Lurton family holds multiple châteaux within the Margaux AOC.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• For 42 years, from 1938 to 1980, no independent wine bearing the name Château Desmirail was made. The building had passed to the Marquis d'Alesme family, while the vineyard and brand name had gone to Château Palmer — each in separate hands.
• The vineyard behind the 1981 revival was not simply the former Desmirail parcels restored. It was assembled by Lucien Lurton from vineyards that he and his father already owned in Margaux.
• In 1855, Desmirail was owned by Monsieur Sipière, who served as the manager of Château Margaux. From the Classification to the present day, its standing as a red wine Third Growth has never once changed.