Château Fonroque: The Chatonnet Era
Sometime around 1881 Jean-Léo sold the estate to Jean Chatonnet (died 1895), proprietor of Château Magdelaine. It is not exactly clear what reasoning lay behind this decision; it certainly wasn’t for lack of an heir, Jean-Léo having married Joséphine Eulalie Marthe Louise Caminade du Châtenet in 1885, a marriage which had produced a son, Noël Georges. Nor was phylloxera responsible, because production was still riding high at 25 tonneaux per annum, as described by the authors of the 1883 Cocks et Féret. Whatever the reason for his selling up, the very lengthy Malet-Roquefort era came to an end with the arrival of the new proprietor.
I suspect, sadly for Jean Chatonnet, that he did not have an easy time of it as lord of Fonroque. Regardless of what state the vineyard had been when he had acquired it, it was soon succumbing to phylloxera. This much is suggested by the rapid decline in productivity that ensued during the middle of the 1880s, the output having already fallen to 15 tonneaux per annum by 1886. Nevertheless the family kept at it, and after Jean’s death the property was inherited by his son, Jacques Jean Hubert Chatonnet (1874 – 1960). Under his direction there was considerable recovery. His late father should probably be credited with having won the gold medal awarded at the 1896 Paris exposition, but only Hubert (as he was known) could have been responsible for the dramatic revitalisation of the vineyard. By 1908 production had bounced back and far exceeded what it had been previously, with 80 tonneaux per annum now the norm.
