93 Decanter – Plenty of juicy dripping autumnal fruit, cassis and blueberry with a crack of black pepper and a good lick of saline freshness on the finish that makes you want to take another sip. One of the clear successes, intense and concentrated with balanced tannins and acidity, if some bitter almond overtones.
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Château Prieuré-Lichine, previously Château Le Prieuré and Château Prieuré-Cantenac, is a winery in the Margaux appellation of the Bordeaux region of France, in the commune of Cantenac. The wine produced here was classified as one of ten Quatrièmes Crus (Fourth Growths) in the historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
Originally a priory of Benedictine monks who cultivated grapes for service at dinner and at religious ceremonies, practices gradually evolved by the 18th century to establish sales of the wine under the name Le Prieuré de Cantenac. As a consequence of the French Revolution, the property was seized, divided and sold in 1789 to several surrounding estates, including Château Palmer. A portion was bought by Monsieur Pagès who passed on the estate to his widow, when due to its reputation and broker prices received a fourth growth classification in 1855. Several changes in ownership resulted in changes to the name, such as Le Prieuré and Prieuré-Cantenac, and when the late wine writer and authority Alexis Lichine arrived to buy the estate it consisted of 11 hectares of neglected vines.
Alexis Lichine bought the vineyard in 1951 (shortly after having purchased the Margaux estate Château Lascombes with a consortium and work began to group and reconstitute the property on the ideal slightly-rising ground. With the money he was garnering from the import business and a few partners, Alexis Lichine bought the Prieure. In 1953, Lichine renamed the Prieuré to Château Prieuré-Lichine.
After Lichine’s death in 1989, the estate was run by his son Sacha for several years, with oenologist Michel Rolland acting as consultant, until the estate was sold to the Groupe Ballande in 1999.