France · Bordeaux

Chateau Prieure-Lichine

Chateau Prieure-Lichine in Margaux takes its name from Alexis Lichine—the influential wine writer and merchant who purchased the estate in 1951 and spent decades assembling scattered Margaux parcels through over 30 individual purchases. This gave the estate over 65 hectares of fragmented Margaux vineyard—one of the appellation's largest holdings but also most geographically dispersed. After Lichine's death in 1989 the estate passed to his son Sacha, then to current owner Justin Onclin since 2000. At auction, 822 lots average $77 per bottle with a ceiling of $738—among the lower-priced Fourth Growths in the auction database, reflecting modest critical scores (typically 88–93 points) and the estate's commercial scale. The 1983 vintage tops the auction database. The wine's accessibility—in both price and approachable style—makes it a practical choice for restaurant buyers and collectors seeking Margaux character without the premiums of Palmer, Rauzan-Segla, or Malescot. Alexis Lichine authored two foundational books—'Wines of France' (1951) and 'Alexis Lichine's Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits' (1967)—that shaped a generation of American wine consumers; his ownership of Prieure-Lichine gave him an unusual dual role as both producer and influential critic within the Bordeaux establishment. The estate's fragmented vineyard structure, assembled parcel by parcel over decades, contributes to a diversity of soil types and exposures that in theory supports complexity.