Château Franc Mayne: Georges des Cordes
Edmond Fourcaud died some time before 1874, as by this time the estate was in the hands of his widow. Presumably their daughter was not willing or able to take on the domaine, as soon afterwards it was sold off, the buyer being one Pierre Marie Jean Baptiste Georges des Cordes (1837 – 1903), who (thankfully, from my keyboard’s point of view) went by the name of Georges. He was from a very well-to-do family, his father Louis des Cordes (died 1867) being an avocat from Angoulême. Georges had married Nathalie d’Auberjon (1842 – 1925) and, by the time he acquired Château Franc Mayne, he already had two sons and sufficient daughters to field an all-girl five-a-side team and still have two substitutes waiting on the bench.
In the change of hands from the Fourcaud family to Georges des Cordes I suspect the domaine was further divided. I suspect this because by 1883 there were two proprietors at Château Franc Mayne, the first being the aforementioned Georges des Cordes, turning out just 15 tonneaux now, the second one François Chevalon, who was making 10 tonneaux (the total production therefore 25 tonneaux, matching what was made under the tenure of the Fourcaud family). It was the first section, approximately 7 hectares of vines, that was the precursor of the modern-day Château Franc Mayne. The fate of the Chevalon section remains uncertain; it could be, as some authors have asserted, that it was absorbed into the vineyard of Clos des Jacobins. I do wonder about the origins of Château Franc-Pourret, in the possession of a Monsieur Dénieau, which also appeared at this moment. The name and the production of 10 tonneaux per annum raises the possibility that this estate originated with the Chevalon vines.
