Château Gruaud-Larose: The Faure & Sarget Families
For over half a century the two halves of Château Gruaud-Larose were managed as two distinct entities by their respective owners. The property survived a rampant attack of oidium during the 1850s, followed by a wave of mildew in the 1880s. Then, of course, there came phylloxera. It was a tough time to be the proprietor of a Bordeaux estate.
Suzanne Sophie and her husband Gabriel Adrien Faure had five children, Georges Adrien (1853 – 1918), Marguerite Clémence Charlotte (1855 – 1929), Jeanne (born 1859), Nelly Henriette Charlotte (1863 – 1960) and Charles (born 1871). Of these the estate came under the direction of the eldest son, Georges Adrien Faure. In 1881 he married Jacqueline Wüstenberg (1861 – 1957) and they had two daughters, Odette (1882 – 1965) and Blanche (born 1883). Thus ownership of this half of the estate became even more fragmented. Less is known of how possession of the Sarget section progressed.
As the 19th century drew to a close, both halves of the domaine remained productive despite phylloxera. On the Bethmann-Faure side the annual production during the final decade of the century was on average 101 tonneaux per annum, a very impressive result. The Sarget vineyard surpassed this figure though, with 131 tonneaux per annum. The 20th century opened with the estate productive yet still divided, although this latter situation was not to last much longer.
