History
The Baron of Montesquieu
On January 18, 1689 was born in La Brède Charles-Louis de Secondat, future Baron de La Brède and Montesquieu. Like most of the children from noble families, during its first years of existence, Montesquieu was a nurturer at the village mill: the mill adjoins our property at La Blancherie.
Then we can imagine the miller coming to walk the young Charles-Louis in the alley, which at that time as now follows the brook of La Blancherie. Montesquieu used his fame as a Baron and his influential connections during his various travels across Europe. He will take the opportunity to make his wines known, which will bring European recognition to the Graves wines of the Bordeaux region. This is mainly in Germany, Holland and England.
"Je ne sais si mes vins tiennent leurs succès à mes livres ou mes livres à mes vins." Montesquieu
Throughout his life, Montesquieu remained faithful to his roots as a landowner and took care of the exploitation of his estates, especially his wineries. Like any other landowner, he was proud of his business and his success: “What makes me love being in La Brède is that here it seems to me that my money is under my feet. In Paris, it seems to me that I have it on my shoulders. In Paris I say “You should only spend that”, in my campaign I say “I should spend all of that. When he returned to La Brède, Montesquieu put forward his values, notably concerning his land and vines, being a real visionary both in his approach and in the marketing of his wines, in France and in Europe.
Le Château
Château La Blancherie is located in the commune of La Brède, home of the philosopher Montesquieu, 15km south of Bordeaux. The existence and reputation of the estate can be traced back to the 18th century, not only because Montesquieu and his nurse lived alongside the estate, but also thanks to the Labadie brothers. Since the 20th century, the Coussié-Braud family has been faithful to this exceptional terroir for four generations, until 2013. Since then, the Fray-Bonnac family has taken over the Château La Blancherie.
At 48 years old, Jean-Bernard Bonnac took, in July 2013, the exceptional opportunity to realize a dream of always and all his family contributes to concretize it.
This result is the meeting between the desire to undertake, the company and the passion.
