The winery is located in the municipality of
Pauillac or the area of the same name in the
Médoc (Bordeaux). The origin of the estate goes back to the 14th century. Around 1720, Dominique Armailhacq acquired a building and land. In 1740 at the latest, wine was produced on the land now called Mouton-d'Armailhacq. The descendant Armand d'Armailhacq improved the quality enormously and promoted the spread of Cabernet Sauvignon. In the 1855
Bordeaux classification, the estate was awarded fifth place (Cinquième Cru Classé), with the name "Darmailhac" appearing on the label. In 1921, a wine trading house was also founded and finally, in 1933, the entire estate was acquired by Baron Philippe de
Rothschild (1902-1988). From the end of the 19th century until the 1955 vintage, the name "Château Mouton d'Armailhacq" (with "q") was used. In 1956, the Baron renamed the estate "Château Mouton Baron-Philippe". The official reason was to avoid any possible confusion with
Armagnac. In honour of his second wife Pauline (+1976) the name was changed to "Château Mouton Baronne-Philipp" in 1975
Finally, after the Baron's death, the last change to the present name "Château d'Armailhac" (without the "q" at the end) was made by his daughter Philippine (*1935), born in 1989. The addition Mouton was deliberately omitted because Baroness Rothschild feared that due to the neighbouring and overpowering
Château Mouton-Rothschild, the Armailhac wine would only be regarded as a second label. The vineyards cover 52 hectares and are planted with Cabernet-Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (23%) and Petit Verdot (2%). This extremely long-lasting red wine is aged for 15 to 18 months in barriques, one third of which are new. The bottle label shows a figure of the Roman wine god
Bacchus, whose 18th century original made of glass can be found in the museum on the Château Mouton-Rothschild. No second wine is produced.
