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Bordeaux winemaking giant Patrick Léon dies
Celebrated winemaker and consultant Patrick Léon died on 11 December 2018 at his home estate of Château Les Trois Croix in Fronsac, Bordeaux.
Léon was responsible for many of the most lauded wines of the 20th century, yet he was often described as unfailingly modest and self-effacing by those who knew him. A devoted oeonologist and ampelographer, Léon started his career in 1960s Bordeaux, at the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture, where he established an oenology laboratory.
In 1972 he began working at Alexis Lichine & Co as technical director and general manager of Château Lascombes in Margaux, before moving to spend nearly 20 years working with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. He was technical director at Château Mouton Rothschild from 1984 until his retirement in 2003, during which time he was instrumental in the launch of the firm’s joint venture developments at Opus One in California and Almaviva in Chile.
Léon bought his Fronsac estate, Les Trois Croix, in 1995 and ran it with his son Bertrand, who also worked alongside his father in Léon Consulting.
In 2006, he returned to work with the Lichine family as consultant winemaker for Sacha Lichine, Alexis’ son, at Château d’Esclans in Provence.
Over the past decade he has worked with CVNE in Rioja, Spring Mountain Vineyard in Napa, Domaine Faiveley in Burgundy and Fujisan Winery in Japan, to name but a few.
Léon’s approach to wine consulting conveys much about the kind of person he was, his maxim being: ‘ We learn as much as we teach.’
Youmna Asseily, who worked with him at her Bordeaux estate Château Biac, said: ‘ We have lost a wonderful person, but also an important piece of the modern history of the wine world.’
Léon is survived by his wife Yvette and three children.