CHATEAU DE MALLE - HISTOTY OF FAMILY - A SUPERB ABODE - ITALIAN GARDENS - VISIT

Jacques de Malle, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux and the direct ancestor of the family of the Counts of Bournazel, built the Château which is named after him, at the beginning of the 17th Century. Since then the estate has always remained in the hands of the family without ever being expropriated.

Three generations later the estate became the property of Pierre de Malle, Councillor to the King Louis XIV, Lord Chancellor of the Court of Guyenne and a member of the Bordeaux Parliament following the long established family tradition. Last male member of the family carrying this name, he married his daughter, Jeanne, to Alexandre-Eutrope de Lur-Saluces, Baron of Fargues and Count of Uza in 1702. Just before the Revolution it was a Colonel de Lur-Saluces who was resident at Château de Malle.

This period (17th Century) coincides with the division of the de Lur-Saluces family line of descent into two parts. The elder son was married on 6th June 1785 and consequently moved to Château d’Yquem whilet the younger son stayed on at Château de Malle. Claude-Henri de Lur-Saluces was beheaded in Bordeaux on 14th September 1793. His son, Alexandre, was elected as Royalist deputy of the Gironde. Another politician, Henri de Lur-Saluces, Senator of the Gironde had the privilege of seeing his Sauternes "Château de Malle" figure amongst the famous Classified Growths of 1855. The daughter of Henri married Paul de Bournazel, father of Henry, the famous “Cavalier Rouge” and grandfather to Pierre.

Much later Pierre de Lur-Saluces, retired bachelor officer, and the last member carrying this family name to live at Malle, left the estate as inheritance to his nephew and godson, Pierre de Bournazel. Pierre de Bournazel took over the property, which was in a run-down and neglected state, in the beginning of the fifties. He launched energetically and successfully into the restoration of both the vineyards and the château to their former glory. Count Pierre de Bournazel, over the years, became a well-known figure on the Bordeaux viticultural scene. Since his death in 1985, his wife has taken over the task of running the estate and has carried the torch with great elegance and refinement. Today she is ably seconded by her three sons, Paul-Henry, Antoine and Charles de Bournazel.