Château Haut-Bages-Libéral: Jacques Merlaut & Bernadette Villars
The Cruse family were forced to sell Château Pontet-Canet following the wine scandal of the early 1970s, which saw the family implicated in a racket passing off plain red vin de table as wine with the Bordeaux appellation. This was despite the fact the real culprit was Pierre Bert, a small-time négociant who had made the deception, the Cruse family caught up through having taken the wine. Happily they were able to hold on to Château Haut-Bages-Libéral, although only until 1982, when it was also put up for sale.
Competition to purchase the property, which has vineyards adjacent to some of the most famous in the commune, was stiff, but the eventual winner was Jacques Merlaut, who added the château and estate to his expanding portfolio of properties, under the title of the Taillan Group. He already owned Château Chasse-Spleen, and to these two the family subsequently added Château Gruaud-Larose, Château Ferrière, Château Citran and Château La Gurgue.
Jacques Merlaut had a daughter named Bernadette, born in Bordeaux but raised in Paris. Despite being divorced from the region for so many years she returned to study geology, subsequently going on to teach history and geography locally.
