This world-famous estate belongs to one of the oldest and most aristocratic French families : the Marquis de Laguiche. Out of the 14 different owners, the Marquis de Laguiche family is propriétaire of the largest portion of Le Montrachet, entirely located in Puligny (according to many authorities, the better side). It has been in their hands since 1363. It is ironical that the hillside of Montrachet, producing Burgundy`s most prestigious white wine (and in some say the world`s most complex), should look so unprepossessing. The etymology of the place-name is actually instructive : the word rachet refers to a poor type of soil where only scrawny bushes can grow. It is therefore on this "poor, hard, infertile" soil, which geologists call Bathonian limestone, that the Chardonnay grape develops this unique "terroir" character.