Château Faurie de Souchard: Jean Combret de Faurie

Pierre and Marie enlarged the domaine and built the château, which was completed between 1741 and 1762. By this time control of the estate had passed to Jean Combret de Faurie (died 1804), a retired military officer, and as some have suggested possibly the offspring of Marie Couture. With such a fine residence standing here the era of the Bourdieu de Soutard had clearly passed, while that of Château Soutard had begun. This was still almost a century before the nascence of Château Faurie de Souchard and Château Petit Faurie de Soutard.

Jean Combre de Faurie was noteworthy for having planted vines by digging trenches in the limestone rock, a technique first employed during Roman times, and still in use in the region centuries later. This has led some writers to assert that he was the first to plant vines here, although as my profile has already made clear the vines had been in the ground since at least the early 1700s. Jean was perhaps responsible for expanding the vineyard though, and the fact he planted in regimented rows rather than en foule, as was common before phylloxera, may also have lent some weight to this erroneous conclusion. In addition Jean was responsible for adding an attractive park to the château his mother had built.

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