In the early 18th century the Pauillac district began widespread grape cultivation at the urging of the owners of Lafite. The Milon wines served as additional income for Lafite’s master and became Château Lafite’s second wine. In 1815 the courtier Guillaume Lawton was already talking about Mandavy-Milon from the Milon hills as a fourth growth Pauillac wine in the making. Between 1830 and 1840, the CASTEJA family was left an inheritance by both Mandavy and the Duhart widow (14 hectares). The family thus possessed a 40-hectare vineyard that was named Duhart-Milon. The 1855 Classification recognized Duhart-Milon soil’s quality by ranking it as the only 4th growth wine in Pauillac. In 1937 the result of successive inheritances led to the sale of the estate. The property went through five different owners in just 25 years and the splitting up of the vineyards caused a speedy decline. The quality of the Château’s wines was also declining until the Rothschild Family purchased the property in 1962. Duhart-Milon then included 110 hectares, of which only 17 hectares were vineyards. Major construction projects were then brought into the vineyards: draining, uprooting and replanting, the purchase of adjacent plots and reintegrating the vineyards by trading plots. New cellar and tank rooms were installed in Pauillac. Today, the new vines are all mature and the renovation of the cellar adds a finishing touch to a remarkable 40-year effort that reclaimed the Médoc 4th growth wine ranking for Château Duhart-Milon.

The 76 hectares of vines consist of Cabernet Sauvignon (67%) and Merlot (33%). The average age of the vines is 30 years. Major construction projects were then brought into the vineyards: draining, uprooting and replanting, the purchase of adjacent plots, and reintegrating the vineyards by trading plots. Each parcel is isolated initially in order to judge its quality in order to know if it can be integrated to the Grand Cru.