Château Haut-Brion: building the ultimate wine library

by Evelyne Resnick

The antique market in Bazas, southwest France, takes place on a Saturday morning, with stalls of bric-a-brac stretching out across the cobbled square that lies beneath the towering spire of the cathedral. It’s unlikely that many of the stallholders know this, but the cathedral owes much of its present glory to Château Haut-Brion – or rather founder Jean de Pontac’s fourth son, Arnaud II de Pontac.

Ordained as a priest at the age of 27, Arnaud de Pontac spent much of his life 33 miles southeast of Haut-Brion, carrying out his duties as bishop of Bazas. The small town best known today for its prized beef, which rivals Charolais as the best in France, but over the centuries it has also been an important religious centre, and its cathedral dates back to the 5th century. By the 17th century, it had suffered from years of neglect, and de Pontac donated large parts of his fortune to its restoration. The locals must have been grateful, as according to reports at the time, his death in 1605 saw a nine-mile long funeral procession.

Alongside his religious duties, de Pontac also acquired one of the most important libraries of the age. On his death in 1605, he bequeathed his many books to his grand-nephew, Arnaud III of Pontac, owner of Château Haut-Brion (the same man who would go on to open the Pontack’s Head in London). The catalogue of the library, established in 1662, identified more than 5,000 books and manuscripts about religion, law, literature, sciences and history, all fields dear to Arnaud II. Unfortunately, the library was sold to a bookseller in 1708 who dispersed this amazing collection.

Building a new library

This original scholarly collection is about to be challenged by the new library built by Prince Robert de Luxembourg in Château Haut-Brion. Prince Robert de Luxembourg became President of Domaine Clarence Dillon in 2008. Since then, he has continued the work of the Dillon family, the current owner of Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Quintus. He also aims to continue the tradition of the previous dynasties that have owned Haut-Brion for over four centuries: The Pontacs, Talleyrand, and the Larrieu family, all of whom kept the estate ingrained in international history and wine culture.

According to Alain Puginier, Estates’ Heritage and Records Manager, a fine historian and expert on the heritage of the properties of Domaine Clarence Dillon, the idea of a library came to Prince Robert in 2009 when he bought at auction a book by Antonin Carême, Le Maître d’hôtel français, chef of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord. Owner of Haut-Brion from 1801 to 1804 Talleyrand was Napoleon’s foreign affairs minister for Napoleon Bonaparte, future Napoleon 1, hand employed Carême, ‘king of chefs and the chef of kings’ for 12 years. During this time he entertained many of the world’s princes, sovereigns and heads of state, serving them Carême’s food and the wines of Haut Brion. He was known for saying, ‘it is through my casseroles and my cuisine that my diplomacy achieves its aims’.

Robert’s passion for collecting art and books comes from a long tradition in the Dillon family. As stated by Martin Latham in his book The Bookseller’s Tale, “[…] the foremost reason for collecting books [is] a sense of history, of using old books to improve the future of mankind. Notable book collectors of the past explicitly rooted their collecting habit in a desire to use history to make a better future”.

Both Prince Robert’s great-grandfather, Clarence Dillon and his grandfather, Douglas Dillon, were passionate collectors and Francophiles.  In 1951 Clarence Dillon contributed to the buying of the Livre de Raison by the French writer Montaigne in New York. The book was auctioned for US$21,000 (about US$221,000 today) to the French government, thanks to Clarence Dillon and other generous Americans. Douglas Dillon, also a Francophile, was more interested in Asian Arts than his father. He was President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1970 to 1977 and Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1983. His key project was to help create one of the most preeminent collections of Chinese painting and calligraphy embodied by the creation of the Douglas Dillon Galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy open in 1981. The Dillon Fund also endowed a departmental chairmanship in Chinese Art and a position in Chinese painting conservation.

Besides family tradition, the long history of Chateau Haut-Brion and its location of land that was almost certainly planted to vines by the Romans, lead to Prince Robert building a collection of ancient wine and vine tools, as well as works of art. He acquired at various auctions objects related to wine, perfumes, or water – everything liquid testifying to a long history around the world. One of his latest acquisitions is a mosaic from the 6th Century AD, on display behind the welcome desk of the château. His goal is to show how deeply wine is part of a civilisation and how Château Haut-Brion contributes to it.

The library plays an important part in this plan. The wood used in the carpentry frame dates back to the 17th century. The interior was designed with the help of a British designer, James Hunter, as a circular room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and a small balcony running around the walls. As of today, it is home to about 2,500 books as well as manuscripts and menus from all over the world.

The oldest book dates back to 1516: it is written in Latin by the Neapolitan poet Francesco Mario Grapaldo. The highlights of the collection are the books on gastronomy and wine by the most famous chefs or culinary gourmets since the 18th Century: Antonin Carême, of course but also Brillat-Savarin or La Reynière.

Menus, artworks, letters, cellar books

The library holds some gems connecting the international history of Château Haut-Brion. Thanks to the generosity of Alain Puginier, I had the privilege of reading a letter dated 1818 from Thomas Jefferson, an amateur of Haut-Brion wines since his visit in 1787 and former President of the United States, to Baron Hyde de Neuville, bitterly complaining of the taxes on exported wines. History sadly repeats itself as the American taxation of wines during the Trump presidency created the same situation.

Besides the books, an impressive collection of gala menus where the wines of Haut-Brion were served are kept in the library. Some are gorgeous artworks: one, for example, of a menu showcased in a lacquered box decorated with Persian patterns from when the Shah of Iran organised a banquet in Tehran in October 1971 for the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire. Simpler in design but rich in quality, the menu offered to John F. Kennedy, then President of the United States, and his francophile and francophone wife, Jacqueline Bouvier-Kennedy, during their visit in 1961 by the French President, General De Gaulle, featured a bottle of Château Haut-Brion white 1953. Was it because the Secretary of the Treasury was then Douglas Dillon, whose family owned Château Haut-Brion since 1935?

The library also harbours the cellar books of the Elysée Palace, official residence of French presidents, from 1959 to 1969, covering the presidencies of General de Gaulle.  It also holds the menus served to the General’s guests. The book reveals that, in 1961, at the time of the Kennedy’s visit, 37 bottles of Chateau Haut-Brion white 1953 were consumed, leaving 11 in the cellar.

Whether you are considering ancient or modern times, diplomacy, art, wine or gastronomy, the small but rich library of Château Haut-Brion carries a powerful sense of cultural heritage. It is a gem of culture, quality, and beauty peacefully nestled in one of the most beautiful wine estates in Bordeaux.

Note: the library is open to researchers upon request. It will stay open during the full renovation of the château starting in March 2022, when Haut-Brion will stay closed for three years.