Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  Today we’re highlighting the wine and history of Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande and Madame May-Eliane Miailhe de Lencquesaing.  We recently shared a bottle of her wine with our very good friends, Beverly and Mark, and it occurred to me this would be a nice blog post.

Pichon-Lalande is located in the commune of Pauillac, arguably ground zero for the finest Bordeaux, at least on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.  Her neighbors are household names … Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Latour.  The wines are characterized by finesse, structure, delicacy, complexity, and long lives.  They are wines that require something of you, not merely a beverage to be consumed at a meal without conscious thought about the wine.

May-Eliane Miailhe was 14 years old when World War II was declared between France and Germany.  Her family was well known in the wine world.  In addition to Pichon-Lalande, the Miailhes owned Châteaux Siran, Coufran, Dauzac, and were part owner of Château Palmer.  May-Eliane’s aunt, Renée, had been orphaned in World War I and knew the implications of the unfolding catastrophe.  The Miailhes welcomed two families of frightened Italian Jews to take shelter at Château Palmer.

As soon at the Germans occupied Bordeaux, they told the Miailhes to leave Pichon-Lalande and find another place to live.  The family moved to Château Siran, where May-Eliane’s grandparents lived.  Their Jewish friends were in a building attached to Château Palmer.  To the horror of the Miailhes, Château Palmer was requisitioned by the Germans.  Before they arrived, however, the Miailhe family quickly bricked the passageway between the house and the annex. 

At the risk of their own safety, May-Eliane and her family provided food, news, and basic living necessities to their friends hiding at Château Palmer, passing items through a trapdoor concealed by vegetation.  She recalls riding her bicycle through the vineyards to deliver food to her friends.  The Germans would say, “Bonjour, mademoiselle,” never suspecting she had food in her bicycle basket.  By July 1942, the Miailhes knew it was a matter of time before they and their friends would be discovered by the Germans.  With the help of the French underground, they found someone who could forge papers and help them flee the country.  Under cover of darkness, they helped the Italians escape, ultimately taking the last ship to Argentina.

In 1948, May-Eliane married a French military officer.  She spent the next 30 years in various locations around the world, including two postings at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  While living in the U.S., she visited Napa Valley and was impressed with the wines.  In a 2005 interview she said, “The wine was beautiful.  Better than now, in fact.”

In 1968, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing returned to Pichon-Lalande to manage the estate.  She installed new equipment, replanted vineyards, and restored the château to its former glory.  In 2006, without heirs who wanted to own and run the operation, she sold a majority share of Pichon-Lalande to the Champagne family that owns Louis Roederer.

While enjoying the 2001 vintage of Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande with Beverly and Mark, we reflected on May-Eliane and her family, the risks they took, the sacrifices they were forced to endure.  They are some of the many, many heroes of that time from all around the world, our own American fathers and grandfathers and families, ordinary people who performed extraordinary acts of courage under desperate conditions, reminding us of essential goodness.

So, it is with admiration and gratitude that we pay tribute to May-Eliane Miailhe de Lencquesaing and the Miailhes of Pauillac and Bordeaux.  She is now age 86, still vigorous and involved in wine.

Here are my notes on the 2001, which we enjoyed with a fantastic dinner of grilled ribeye, twice-baked potatoes, and a cool green salad.

Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande Pauillac 2001.  This is a stunning wine.  It had everything we could expect of a great Left Bank Bordeaux.  The aromas showed beautiful floral notes, perhaps violets, herbs, currant, cedar, leather, very complex.  The palate was silky smooth in texture, with medium body, good acidity, and flavors of cherry, currant, herbs.  It had finesse, elegance, and delicacy.  It was completely balanced, complex, and long finishing. Outstanding.  45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petite Verdot, 13.0% alcohol.  We paid $90 for this wine.  It was worth every penny.

That’s our post for today.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep coming for more wine and food adventures at Cépage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers!

Mary♥Brian

Sources:

Don & Petie Kladstrup, Wine & War, Broadway Books, 2001.

The General of Pauillac.  Wine Spectator, Dec 31, 2005.

Champagne House Invests in Bordeaux’s Pichon-Lalande.  Wine Spectator, Oct 31, 2006.