Located in the town of Pessac, Château Haut-Brion is the oldest wine-growing property in the region. Founded in 1533 by the Pontac family, the latter continues to innovate and improve viticultural techniques. The wines are coveted by monarchs and many writers will sing their praises, including Samuel Pepys: “And there I drank a kind of French wine called Ho-Bryan which had a very particular good taste that I had never encountered. .”. The first “branded wine” was born.
It was at Château Haut-Brion, in the middle of the 17th century, that a new style of wine was created, “the new French Claret”, at the origin of today's great wines for laying down, a real turning point in wine history. This is also where bottling at the château began. During a visit, Thomas Jefferson, future third president of the United States. reportedly wrote to his brother-in-law: "I can't deprive myself of the pleasure of asking you to invest in a batch of wine. This will give you an example of what the best Bordeaux wine is. It comes from the Haut-Brion vineyard”.