Governor of the province, Maréchal de Richelieu appreciated the wine of La Mission. The most eminent personalities of the Royal Court shared his taste for this magnificent wine.

When he arrived in Bordeaux, Richelieu favoured Burgundy wines. One day, he drank a delicious wine he was unable to recognize. His servant told him : "It is La Mission Haut-Brion, sir."

From then on, the Duke served La Mission every day, enhancing his well attended banquets with the good red Bordeaux.

When he returned to Paris, he introduced it to the Court, saying : "If God had forbidden drinking, why should He have created this great wine ?"

His successor, Maréchal Duc de Mouchy, continued the tradition of serving La Mission, but with more moderation : he was a refined and austere man, very different from Richelieu.

When he returned to Paris shortly before the Revolution, the Maréchal and his wife in their positions of high office at the Court continued to serve the wine from La Mission.

Their son-in-law, Duc de Duras, shared his penchant for this great wine.

Another connoisseur of the
wine from La Mission:
Audibert de Lussan, archbishop of Bordeaux from 1745 to 1769.
Photo Archives Municipales de Bordeaux

Who created this great wine
enjoyed by so many prominent personalities?

The modest friars of La Mission Haut-Brion who had been working the land of La Mission for over a century...