For four centuries, Maison Lorgeril has been a fixture in Languedoc. With the arrival of Henri de Lorgeril as its new director, the 11th generation is now at the helm. Raised among the vineyards and formed outside the wine world, he returns to his family heritage. WINELIFE looks inside a house where tradition and future meet.
Text: Charlotte van Zummeren | Image: Maison Lorgeril
The history of the noble De Lorgeril family goes back four hundred years. In 1620, the family settled on a chateau in Pennautier, a small town near Carcassonne. Centuries ago, kings were received at this chateau, with their entire retinue. It was a great honour if the king or queen stayed with you. The halls where the court resided then are still there. Château de Lorgeril is also called Château de Pennautier, thanks to a marriage in the distant past between the great-grandparents of De Lorgeril and Pennautier. The chateau's wines are bottled under the Lorgeril name.
New director
Nicolas and Mirèn de Lorgeril looked after the chateau from 1987. They bought additional domaines, namely Mas de Montagnes in Roussillon, Château de Ciffre in Saint-Chinian and Domaine La Borie Blanche in Minervois. That expansion means the family owns the substantial 340 hectares in Languedoc. Henri de Lorgeril, the son of Nicolas and Mirèn, is the 11th generation. He recently became the new director of the family business. Born and raised in Carcassonne, where he grew up among the château's vineyards and cellars, the world of wine is not new to him. ‘As a child, I went with my parents during the harvest and spent hours at the bottling lines; that is probably where my love for wine was born,’ he says. Yet after graduating, he did not go into the vineyard, but into business. He helped start-ups build up. ‘I wanted to gain experience outside the wine world. Eventually I set up a recruitment and consulting firm that I sold in 2022.’ It may sound boring, but the combination of roots in wine and experience in entrepreneurship is an essential part of who Henri is, he says. ‘It shapes the way I see the future of wine, with room for innovation, transfer and reinvention.’
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