I tried my best to belong to this place, but I don't think I ever truly felt at home here.Jean-Luc Picard regarding Château Picard
Château Picard was the Picard family estate and vineyard in La Barre, France. (PIC: "Remembrance")
History
At the onset of World War II, the French Resistance converted Château Picard into munitions storage and a means of communicating with the front. During this time, extensive underground tunnels were established that led to the vineyards, with entrances hidden inside the house. When the Nazis invaded, the Resistance locked the tunnels away. (PIC: "Hide and Seek")
Château Picard was subsequently used as a base by Nazi occupiers. The Picard family managed to survive by hiding in the underground tunnels, and after the war moved to England. The house lay abandoned and ruined for the next century; eventually the Picards hired caretakers to maintain the property, but it would be generations before they took up residence there again. (PIC: "Watcher")
After time travelling back to 2024, the CSS La Sirena crash landed on the property near the estate. (PIC: "Assimilation")
Jean-Luc Picard grew up in the Picard family home on the estate. His father, Maurice Picard, maintained the house and vineyard in a traditional fashion, without advanced technology. Maurice and his wife Yvette had frequent discussions about installing a replicator in the house; Maurice felt that such conveniences were a threat to important values. His son Robert succeeded him, and maintained his traditions; the house still did not have a replicator as of 2367. (TNG: "Family")
Jean-Luc left the family home in 2323 to enlist in Starfleet. During his Starfleet career, he visited the estate at least twice, in 2347 and 2367. In 2371, a fire claimed the lives of Robert Picard and his son René. (TNG: "Family"; Star Trek Generations)
Two vintages they were known for producing included the estate red wines Chateau Picard and Chateau La Barre. Chateau Picard was available to the public since at least 2249, and one particularly noteworthy vintage year of Chateau La Barre was 2294. (DIS: "The Vulcan Hello"; TNG: "Family")
After resigning in protest from Starfleet in 2385, former admiral Jean-Luc Picard moved to Château Picard and took over the vineyards. Unlike the aversions to the use of modern technology on the family property shared by his father and his older brother, Jean-Luc employed and installed modern conveniences, such as automatic watering vehicles for the fields, surveillance devices to provide security feeds of the entire property, holographic screens (such as one in the kitchen to easily watch the news while preparing meals), and, most poignantly, a kitchen replicator, which his mother Yvette Picard and sister-in-law Marie Picard had argued for during their marriages to their respective husbands. (PIC: "Remembrance"; TNG: "Family")
In an alternate future, Jean-Luc Picard also retired to Château Picard while suffering the early stages of Irumodic Syndrome. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
Appendices
Background information
The Picard Vineyards were vineyards mentioned as owned by the Picard family mentioned in a section of the Picard family album prepared for Star Trek Generations, but not seen on-screen.
According to the album, it had been tended by the family since the first half of the 23rd century. In 2234, the spring bottlings of this vineyard were sampled at a wine tasting at Starfleet Academy organized by Robert Picard.
Before 2305, the Bordeaux wines of Chateau Picard were awarded the Appellation Bordeaux contrôlée. The same year, the vinery was also awarded a "Certificate of Excellence in Winemaking" from the Terran Winemakers Association for the 2305 vintage of their Bordeaux. The certificate mentions the appellation.
The script of "Family" describes the Picard home thusly:
- "The house sits adjacent to a small vineyard. The house itself is made of stone and wood, and there is a noticeable lack of 24th-century design or devices in the building and its surroundings. There is an aged historical plaque on the side of the house. The setting is rural, and looks much like a farmhouse in the French countryside would have looked in the 19th century."
The filming location used for the Picard family home in "Family" was a private home in Encino, California, while the vineyard scenes were shot in a dryland near Lancaster. The dining room and living room of the Picard home were filmed in studio. The vineyard scenes in "All Good Things..." were filmed at Callaway Vineyard & Winery. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 143; "New Life and New Civilizations"; TNG Season 4 DVD special feature)
In Star Trek: Picard, the Château Picard scenes were shot at Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, California. Director Hanelle M. Culpepper wanted to shoot on location in France, but the producers vetoed that idea. [1].
Concept art for Picard's library seen in "The Star Gazer" was done by Joe Comeau, and concept art for the grounds was done by Laurent Ben-Mimoun. The library was meant to "tie the feeling to both the S1 version," but also back to "Family", while easily being able to adapt/change between multiple time periods. [2](X)
Apocrypha
In the Pocket Alternate Reality Star Trek: Starfleet Academy book The Assassination Game, Leonard McCoy chooses Chateau Picard champagne, prompting James T. Kirk to reply, "Chateau Picard? Never heard of it."
External link
- Château Picard at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works