Description

The origins of Château Olivier date back to the Middle Ages, when the property was merely a keep. During these centuries, several authors mention the probable existence of a lordship called d’Olivey, unique to the entire lordship of Léognum. The “Black Prince,” Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of King Edward III of England, loved to hunt in this vast oak forest. Bertrand du Guesclin, the leader of the French army, refused pitched battles and relentlessly harassed the English; legend has it that du Guesclin stayed at Château Olivier during one of his visits to Aquitaine.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Arthus d’Olivey, Lord of Léognan, transformed the keep into a defensive castle flanked by four towers and walls, giving it his name. Its still-filled moat, its mullioned windows reminiscent of the Château de Blois, and its chapel bear witness to this glorious past. Arthus d’Olivey was the first landowner to plant vines.

At the end of the 17th century, the property belonged to Jacques de La Serre, Lord of Olivier. His daughter, Marie, married the Baron de la Brède, and their daughter later married the Baron de Montesquieu, father of the famous writer, author of Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws. In the 18th century, the rise of great Bordeaux wines and the region’s growing renown brought about a significant transformation for Château Olivier. Following its acquisition by Jacques Fossier de Lestard, advisor to the king, the Château took on its current appearance: the first cellars were built, and an ambitious hydraulic system was installed, centered around a fountain, a fountain, and two ponds.

In 1867, Alexandre de Bethmann, from a family of Protestant bankers originally from Frankfurt and established in Bordeaux since the 18th century, was a co-owner of Gruaud-Larose and became mayor of Bordeaux. He was the one who had the Fountain of the Three Graces built in the Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux. Château Olivier came into the family through the wife of his grandson, Jacques de Bethmann, the great-grandfather of the current owners. Jean-Jacques de Bethmann took over the direct management of Château Olivier in 1982 after a long period of leasing, and in 2002 brought in Laurent Lebrun as General Manager. In 2012, his three children took over the management of the estate; a new chapter for this family, which has owned it for over 136 years.