Château Lagrange: John-Lewis Brown
After Jean-Valère Cabarrus, another more familiar figure pops up in the story of Château Lagrange. Jean-Valère had married Lucile Constans in 1770, and together they had a son named Adolphe Cabarrus (1795 – 1862). He married Elisabeth Brown (1800 – 1850), the daughter of John Lewis Brown (1769 – 1851), a wealthy trader who also owned, at one time or another, Château Brown in Pessac-Léognan and Château Cantenac-Brown in Margaux. Despite the estate’s admirable level of production, said in 1824 to have been 120 tonneaux per annum, and the family’s wealth, it seems Jean-Valère was ready to divest himself of the property, and as a consequence he sold the estate. It thus passed from the hands of Cabarrus to those of his son’s father-in-law, John Lewis Brown, changing hands for the sum of 650,000 francs.
John Lewis Brown continued the work commenced by Cabarrus, although he concentrated on improving the chai rather than the vineyard. Sadly, however, he too soon realised the difficulties in running a large Bordeaux estate such as this; ultimately he was also forced to sell the property, probably as his bank withdrew their backing. The new owner was Comte Charles-Marie-Tanneguy Duchâtel (1803 – 1867), an influential minister. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate his influence. An extremely wealthy and well-positioned politician, he was at the peak of his powers during the 1830s and 1840s, at the time of this acquisition. His posts included Minister of Commerce and Public Works (1834 – 1836), Minister of Finance (1836 – 1837) and, most significantly, Minister of the Interior (1839 – 1848). In this latter role he was responsible for maintaining internal order, and only one or two colleagues in government, and Louis-Philippe I (1773 – 1850) himself, the self-styled King of the French, held more status.
He bought the estate from Brown in 1842 for 775,000 francs (some publications say 840,000 francs, so take your pick on this figure).
