Château Haut Nouchet: The 20th Century
This was perhaps something of a golden era for the estate. Despite suffering the ravages of phylloxera and numerous other vineyard blights the property won several medals at international expositions, including Liège in 1905, Bordeaux in 1907, London in 1908 and Brussels in 1910. But then the crises of the early 20th century followed, hammer blows delivered by war and depression. Things didn’t look too bad up until 1922, the estate at this time still in the hands of Marcel Vayssière and his family. The production remained healthy at 40 tonneaux per annum, of which three-quarters was red and an admirable one-quarter was white. Tragically, the young Marcel died this year in an automobile accident in Paris; the running of the property fell to his widow Jeanne, and then presumably to his son Etienne.
Under the care of Etienne Vayssière the estate fell into an almost inevitable decline which was no doubt hastened by the effects of World War II. The château fell into disrepair and the vineyards were not actively tended.
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