| Chateau de la Garde (as it was called in the early days) was built in the 13th century at the top of a hill for its strategic location overlooking the Dordogne. It was built as the residence for the private army (the ‘garde’) of the Duke d’Aubray, who served the French king Louis IX. Hence the name ‘Le chateau de la Garde’. For safety reasons the duke himself chose to move into a second castle, roughly a hundred yards from the spot where he feared things could get somewhat inflamed. However it didn’t help him much when during the Hundred Years’ War the English came sailing up the river (in 1427) and used their cannon to raze the Duke’s castle to the ground. Chateau de la Garde too was annihilated, but rebuilt in the same year. This time the stronghold was assigned an agrarian destination. The 570 acres of land were used for farming and pasture. The owners grew grain, kept cattle and made wine. Over the course of the following centuries the acreage diminished, the cows and wheat disappeared and only the vineyards remained, roughly 90 acres these days. After a long string of owners, Ilja Gort acquired the castle on the 18th of August 1994. Exactly 16 years later, on the 18th of August 2010, he added the name of his most successful wine to that of the chateau. Since then it is called ‘Chateau la Tulipe’. |
0
