The name “Batailley” derives from the “Bataille” (Battle) that took place between the French and English on the same estate in 1453. The French also recaptured Château Latour this very same year, marking the end of the Hundred Years’ War. Château Batailley is one of the oldest estates in Pauillac.
Vines have been planted on this rich piece of land since the 17th century. In the 18th century, three siblings of the Pauillac-based Saint-Martin family bought the estate. In 1791, the two sisters sold their shares to Guillaume Pécholier, a Bordeaux wine merchant.
In 1816, Daniel Guestier, from the company Barton & Guestier, bought the Château, modernising it, increasing the area of the vineyard and improving the quality of the wine. His son then took over the estate 1847.
The Guestier family asked Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, a landscape architect serving Napoleon III, to design the six-hectare estate. The Parisian banker Constant Halphen acquired the property in 1866.
In 1855, Château Batailley was placed in the Cinquième Grand Cru Classé du Médoc category, mostly thanks to the improvements made under Daniel Guestier.
The Médoc wines classification was introduced at the request of Napoleon III, who spoke to Bordeaux wine merchants at the Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris.
This classification was based on the value of wines and the reputations of Châteaus.
Denise Borie, daughter of Marcel Borie and wife of Emile Castéja, inherited the Château in 1961, which was run by her husband for the next 40 years before their son took the reins in 2000.
A programme was launched in 2002 to ensure the excellence of wines produced on the estate.
Following vat house renovation works in 2006, it was now possible to pursue plot-by-lot wine-making.
Château Batailley flourished as a result, releasing its second wine, Lions de Batailley, in 2015, and its third in 2019, Pauillac de Batailley..
