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Nathaniel de Rothschild

Nathaniel de Rothschild, born July 2, 1812 in London, England – died February 19, 1870 in Paris, France, was the first founder of the French wine making branch of the Rothschild family.

Born in London, England, Nathaniel Rothschild was the fourth child of Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836) and Hannah Cohen (1783-1850). He moved to Paris, France in 1850 to work in the banking business owned by his uncle, James Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868). Known as "Nat," in 1842, he married his uncle's daughter, Baroness Charlotte de Rothschild (1825-1899).

Nat Rothschild worked with his uncle James at the Rothschild bank in Paris, but in 1853 he acquired Château Brane Mouton, a vineyard in Pauillac in the Gironde département from a Paris banker named Thuret who had previously bought it from Baron Hector de Branne in 1830. Nat Rothschild paid 1,175,000 francs for Brane-Mouton's 65 acres of vineyards and renamed the estate, Château Mouton Rothschild. It would become of the world's best known winemakers.

In 1868, Nat's uncle James acquired the neighboring Chateau Lafite vineyard. A prestigious first growth (premiere cru) property more than three times the size of Chateau Mouton, it created a family rivalry. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 Château Mouton was ranked second, something that upset its owner a great deal. In response, he composed the motto: Premier ne puis, second ne daigne, Mouton suis. ("First I cannot be, second I do not choose to be, Mouton I am.").

Nat Rothschild died in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and his children and grandchildren showed little enthusiasm for the wine business. It would be 118 years later before Château Mouton, under the leadership of Nat's great-grandson Philippe de Rothschild (1902-88), would become the only French vineyard to ever achieve reclassification to first growth.

Children of Nathaniel de Rothschild & Charlotte de Rothschild:

  • Nathalie de Rothschild (1843-1843), died in infancy
  • James Edouard de Rothschild (1844-1884)
  • Mayer Albert de Rothschild (1846-1850)
  • Arthur de Rothschild (1851-1903)


Last updated: 11-10-2004 16:31:51