Château de Sales in Pomerol has been owned by the same family for more than 500 years. The Sauvanelles hung onto it through the French Revolution, though their archives were burned and their home looted. Their descendants kept it intact through the German occupation of the Second World War.  

But keeping it in the family for the next 50 years, much less the next 500, will be the real challenge. For a start, there are 45 people in the next generation with a stake in the property.