Château Margaux is located in the commune of Margaux on the left bank of the Garonne estuary in the Médoc region. Occupied since at least the 12th century, it was the arrival of the Lestannac family in the 16th century that signalled the start of significant wine production. The ownership of Chateau Margaux then continued in a relatively direct path from the female side of the Lestonnacs.

By the beginning of the 18th Century, the estate comprised 650 acres with a third devoted to viticulture, which is nearly identical to the modern layout. As with many of Medoc's chateaux, the early 18th century saw the wine develop from a pale watery drink that faded within only a few years, to the dark, complex liquid that has been stored in cellars ever since, and a transformation was largely due to an estate manager named Berlon, who revolutionised techniques of wine-making by introducing novel ideas such as banning the harvesting in the early morning to avoid dew-covered grapes, and acknowledged the importance of soil quality in the various terroir found on the estate.

Following the French Revolution, the owner Elie du Barry was executed and the estate expropriated, eventually becoming the property of the citizen Miqueau who neglected its care and maintenance. Briefly rescued by Laure de Fumel, she was soon forced to sell, and in 1802 the estate was purchased by the Marquis de la Colonilla, Bertrand Douat.

The estate's old château was torn down and completely rebuilt by Douat. It was sold in 1836 to the Spanish nobleman Alexandre Aguada, Marqués de la Marismas, and remained in the family until 1920 with the sale to a syndicate initially headed by the broker Pierre Moreau.

Large portions of shares in the estate were bought by the Bordeaux wine merchant Fernand Ginestet in 1925, and the family eventually took complete ownership in 1949. In 1965 Pierre Ginestet controversially declared a new estate policy that the vintage year would only be affixed to great vintages, while selling the wine of lesser years as non-vintage wine, like the customary

Appellation: Margaux
Areas under Vine: 90 hectares
Average Annual Production: 12,000 cases per annum
Soil: Sandy-stone topsoil, beneath which is to be found gravel and then clay
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), Merlot (20%), Cabernet Franc (2%) and Petit Verdot (3%)
Ageing: The wine is placed in new oak barrels for 18 months
Top Vintages: 1928, 1953, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005,2009