PESSAC : Prince Robert of Luxembourg replaces his mother and becomes president of the Domaine Clarence Dillon company which controls the illustrious first growth acquired by his ancestor.
A page has turned in the history of Château Haut-Brion : the Duchess of Mouchy, president since 1975 of the Domaine Clarence Dillon company of which this Pessac first growth is the flagship property, has today handed the company's reigns over to her son, Prince Robert of Luxembourg.
The latter had been company vice president for several years.
And so the Prince becomes executive manager of Haut-Brion, seventy-four years after his great grandfather, Clarence Dillon bought the château.
This event marks a new era in the history of this highly prosperous American family who fell in love with France long ago.
Passionate about France : Clarence Dillon, who died in 1879 and who gave his name to the family company which runs Haut-Brion, was a successful New York banker.
Dillon, who was of Polish immigrant origin, studied at Harvard, then became principal shareholder of the business bank Read during the first world war. The bank was re-named Dillon Read and Clarence Dillon played a major rôle in the rescue plan for the firm Goodyear aswell as in the sale of Dodge to Chrysler.
Aswell as being a major player on Wall Street, Dillon also had a passion for France, where he lived for two years after his wedding, before purchasing an appartment in Paris in 1929.
He was a great Bordeaux wine lover and Haut-Brion was his favorite. In 1935 he bought the château from André Gibert. The latter was a rather excentric wine grower who, having no heirs, had originally decided to bequeath the property to the city of Bordeaux but in the end, agreed to sell to Dillon.
Douglas Dillon, son of Clarence, was also an important figure in American history. From 1960 to 1965, he was Secretary of the Treasury Department for the democrat presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He had previously been under-secretary of State for economic affairs for the republican Eisenhower administration.
Before developing his political career, Douglas Dillon had lived in Paris from 1953 to 1957 in the rôle of American Amassador to France.
Ties between this American family and France continued to strenghten.
Shared property : Before marrying the Duke of Mouchy, , Joan Dillon, daughter of Clarence, had been wife to Prince Charles of Luxembourg who died in 1977. Prince Charles, a direct descendant of King Henri IV of France, was the father of Prince Robert and his sister, Charlotte Cunningham. Charlotte, who lives in London where she runs a theatre and is also employed by Sotherbys in New York, is a member of the Domaine Clarence Dillon administrative committee. The property is shared with other heirs of Clarence Dillon : Mark Collins, banker and Alexandra Allen, who has a degree in French from the University of Sorbonne.
Haut Brion is not the only château owned by the Dillon company. In 1983 the Dillons bought Château La Mission Haut-Brion (located on the opposite side of the Bordeaux-Arcachon road from Haut-Brion) from the Woltner familly.
Two other quality properties were added to the domain, La Tour Haut Brion and Laville Haut-Brion.
THE SECOND WINE NOW CALLED "CLARENCE" :
Another change is the the new name for Haut-Brion's second label, formerly known as "Bahans Haut-Brion" after the family who had previously owned the small vineyard closest to the château itself. From the 2007 vintage onwards, the second wine will be named "Clarence de Haut-Brion" in memory of the enlightened ancestor, Clarence, who purchased the property in 1935. Also, this second label no longer be sold in a "classic Bordeaux" style bottle, but in the same more rounded style bottle created half a century earlier for it's big brother, Haut-Brion. This bottle, which has helped to re-inforce the Pessac first growth's identity and will surely benefit that of it's second wine.
Prestige aside, Haut-Brion has proved itself to be a highly profitable business. At the end of 2006, the company Domaine Dillon possessed a comfortable capital of 119 million euros, the fruit of profits accumulated over several years. For 2006, the last financial year published, the company, whose headquarters are in Paris, announced a net result of 6,6 million euros for an annual turnover of 25,7 million euros. The company, which has no financial debts, can afford massive investment. Haut-Brion and the other properties owned by the company have already benefitted from regular investment for modernisation over the years, and will surely continue to do so.
Bernard Broustet SO 01/08
Translated by Maxine Colas..