Desmirail has been associated with Médoc winegrowing since 1741. At that time, Jean-Baptiste Desmirail gave his name to the estate, which he received as a dowry from his wife, Mlle Marguerite Rauzan du Ribail.
The château was owned by the Desmirail family until the eve of the 1855 classification, when it was acquired by Mr Sipière, who was then the steward of Château Margaux. Under his management, Desmirail achieved the status of third Grand Cru Classé.
The almost equal proportions of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, supplemented by 5-10% Petit Verdot and soon Cabernet Franc, produce a modern wine that is in tune with consumer tastes.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the estate was taken over by Martial Michel, a glove-maker from the north of France. He sold it just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The estate was then owned for several years by the Château Palmer company, before being sold in 1980 to Lucien Lurton, a leading figure in the Bordeaux wine world.
Since 1992, his eldest son, Denis, has been at the helm of this classified growth and has undertaken a vast programme of development and renovation work: the late 19th-century Medoc-style vat room, with its monumental overturned ship’s hull frame, has been fitted with wooden vats again, and the elegant 18th-century Carthusian monastery has been renovated…
Denis and his wife Laurence, a gallery owner in Bordeaux, soon have a joint project to bring together their respective tastes for art and wine.
