Château La Serre: The Comte de Monlaur
During the years that followed Louise died, and her daughter Catherine inherited the estate. She had married in 1877, her husband being Jean Antoine Raoul Cornette de Saint-Cyr de Monlaur, Comte de Monlaur. They had a child, named Lodois (born 1879). Thus by the time the 1886 Cocks et Féret was published the proprietor was noted to be Madame de Monlaur, maintaining what was perhaps a tradition of female leadership here. The production had dropped to just 8 tonneaux per annum, and as phylloxera was well-established in the region by this time, this is probably the cause of this decreased productivity. Surely influenced by the devastation of this blight, Jean Antoine and Catherine sold the estate the following year. Another factor which possibly influenced their decision to sell was a deterioration in their marriage; they were divorced the following year.
Albert Macquin
Thus in 1887 a new proprietor, none other than Albert Macquin (1852 – 1911), took possession. This is a name already present on these pages, as he is best-known to many as the onetime proprietor of Château Pavie-Macquin, although he was also notable for his grafting skills, and his grafted vines were used to replant much of St Emilion in the immediate post-phylloxera era. He was married to Marie-Charlotte Vangeon (1876 – 1945) and they had two daughters, Marie-Louise (1901 – 1974) and Andrée, and it was these two daughters that would inherit the estate after the death of their father in 1911. This was not before Albert had dramatically increased production though, from a mere 8 tonneaux to a rather more impressive 40 tonneaux per annum.
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