Imagination in power

The story begins with Louis-Gaspard d’Estournel, a visionary spirit who, in the 19th century, shaped a château unlike anything the Médoc had known. The pagodas inspired by Asia and their unexpected silhouettes on the gravel hill create a mental geography that both disorients and fascinates. A later addition, the immense Zanzibar gate carved in the 18th century, further strikes the imagination. Together, they affirm a conviction: wine deserves a setting capable of telling a story. Inside, the organisation of the cellar—already conceived with modernity in mind—impressed visitors as early as 1838, long before the term “technical cellar” became commonplace.

Later, Michel Reybier picked up the thread without ever diminishing its momentum. His intervention is discreet yet decisive. The gravity-fed cellar inaugurated in 2008—the first of its kind in Bordeaux—redefined winemaking practices. Architecture became a precision tool in service of the wine, extending with restraint and accuracy the founder’s original boldness. It naturally embraces aesthetic intent in a simultaneous pursuit of what is good, right and beautiful. Enter the vast tasting room preserving the château’s original framework, cross the glass walkway overlooking the barrel cellar, and finally reach the cellar where six elephants stand guard over the collection of Cos d’Estournel vintages.