Clos des Jacobins: Émile Vauthier
After an apparent age the property eventually emerged under the name Clos des Jacobins. By this time ownership had been relinquished by François Chevalon, and the new owner was Etienne Émile Vauthier (1849 – 1907), who was generally known as Émile. He was the son of Antoine Vauthier (1818 – 1881), and both father and son were renowned bellfounders, based in St Emilion. The bells these craftsmen cast were hung in churches not only across France’s south-west but across the world, including French colonies such as Martinique and La Réunion, but also Rufisque in Senegal, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Travancore, a princely kingdom on India’s southern tip. In their lifetime they produced more than one thousand bells, their work seemingly highly regarded, and presumably they accrued some wealth.
Under their direction the newly created Clos des Jacobins was turning out 30 tonneaux per annum, from a vineyard of 20 journaux (a journal is a unit of measurement denoting the area of land that can be worked by one labourer, in one day). Émile Vauthier was the sole tenant, and from a handsome vineyard he was said by the authors of the 1908 Cocks et Féret to be producing some very admirable wines (although to be fair, the authors seemed to say this of the majority of well-ranked domaines). Of interest, these same authors tease us with the comment that only one part of the vineyard originated from the recent division of Château Franc-Mayne. I suspect, although I have no evidence, that the other part came from the earlier split, otherwise its origin remains a mystery.
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