Château Ausone: The Vauthier Family
Thereafter Ausone and Belair were cared for by Édouard’s widow, and then his children, Jean (1896 – 1974) and Cécile Dubois-Challon. Jean was a notable figure in the commune, a vigneron and a member of the St Emilion Jurade. For the purposes of this history, however, it is perhaps the latter of these two siblings who is of more interest, although at this time the property was divided between them all. Cécile Dubois-Challon married Marcel Vauthier, and they were blessed with children and then grandchildren. Jean Dubois-Challon, however, did not marry until much later in life, and his new wife was a woman much younger than himself named Hélyette. This union bore no children, and so upon Jean’s death in 1974 Cécile’s descendants were anticipating inheriting his share of the vineyard. But it was not to be; Hélyette was determined to hold onto her late husband’s property, and she hired a winemaker, Pascal Delbeck, to help her.
Officially, therefore, Hélyette Dubois-Challon and the Vauthier descendants held joint-ownership of both Belair and Ausone, although it was Delbeck who seems to have had the final say at Belair, whereas the predominant voice at Ausone was Cécile’s grandson, Alain Vauthier. Nevertheless, all was not plain sailing, and acrimony between the two interested parties was to eventually spoil this superficially happy arrangement. There were disagreements about winemaking and harvesting, with even fine details such as the choice of date for the beginning of harvest the subject of court proceedings as the two factions went to war. Unsurprisingly, there was no real investment in the vineyards or cellars during this time, and with such a disharmonious leadership dispute underway it follows that the quality of the wine, once great, was said to have suffered.
