The famous winery is located in the commune of Pessac (suburb of Bordeaux) in the Pessac-Léognan area of Graves(Bordeaux). Its origins go back to Arnaud I Pontac (1460-1533), who made a fortune from 1496 as an exporter of wine and vines from Bordeaux. His son Jean de Pontac (1488-1589) built the north wing of the château in 1550. In 1525, he married Jeanne de Bellon, who brought part of the Haut-Brion vineyard into the marriage as a dowry. His sister Marie married Arnaud de Lestonnac (1495-1558), who founded the neighbouring Château La Mission Haut-Brion in 1540. Jean Pontac had 15 children from his three marriages.

Château wines

The next two Pontac generations have nothing worth mentioning in terms of viticulture. Through Arnaud III de Pontac (1599-1682), the wines of Haut-Brion began to become known and popular in England. He recognised the importance of the English market and is considered the founder of château wines because he was the first person in Bordeaux to market a wine under the name of the estate as "Haut-Brion". Until then, the wines had been sold as anonymous cask wines. This new practice was subsequently imitated by many Bordeaux wineries.

Birth of the second wine

Another marketing pioneering act was that he sold the second qualities from his other estates under the family name "Pontac", which was, so to speak, the birth of the second wine that is common in many châteaux today. He also introduced new winemaking techniques. It can be assumed that he worked with much longer maceration times, as the Haut-Brion wines were described as much darker than other Bordeaux wines at the time. He also introduced ageing in new oak barrels.

The famous diarist and chronicler Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) described the wine in 1663 as follows: "I have just tasted a French wine called Ho-Bryan (sic), which has the best and most extraordinary flavour I have ever encountered". It was also very popular at the English court; the cellar records of Charles II (1630-1685) mention "169 bottles of Hobriono" served to royal guests.

Foundation of "Pontack's Head"

In 1666, Arnaud Pontac sent his son...