Château Cissac: Jacques Mondon
All this data serves to tell us that, prior to the arrival of Jacques Mondon in the late-19th century, there was already considerable success here. The vineyards were expansive, there was active winemaking, and the production levels were admirable. Nevertheless, as the 19th century drew to a close, there was an inevitable decline. Phylloxera arrived in the region; vines withered and died, and the vats and barrels lay empty. At Château Abiet this decline was perhaps also exacerbated by a change of owner, as by 1886 the estate was in the hands of a Monsieur Maurin. The vineyard was also seemingly much less productive, the volume of wine made each year having fallen from 50 to 20 tonneaux. It was surely too early for phylloxera to have had such a dramatic effect; perhaps the vineyard had been divided and sold?
Many proprietors were forced to give up during the viticultural disaster of phylloxera and Château Cissac is no exception to this rule. The first to fall was Château Martiny, which was purchased by Jacques Mondon (1838 – 1897) in 1895. He was a lawyer from Pauillac who was also very familiar with the vineyards of the region; he was already the proprietor of Château Clerc-Milon, and he was the son of Pierre Mondon (1810 – 1884) and grandson of Baptiste “Pierre” Mondon (1777 – 1816), the régisseur at Château Lafite. Château Martiny was just another feather in his cap. The domaine he acquired was of 55 hectares, with 21.5 hectares planted to vines.
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