Château Léoville-Barton: Blaise Antoine Alexandre de Gascq
Jean married Jeanne de Bonneau (died 1718) on September 4th 1688, and the couple had two daughters, Louise Jeanne de Moytié (born 1689) and Jeanne de Moytié. After the passing of their father there was some dispute over the inheritance; writing in St Julien (Aurum Press, 1984), Bernard Ginestet noted that “[the] two daughters did not get on very well. At the death of their father the lawyer, Lacoste, had a great deal to settle”. In the first instance the inheritance came to Jeanne and her husband Blaise Antoine Alexandre de Gascq (1695 – 1753), the two having married on August 10th 1722. Blaise Antoine was the ideal suitor for Jeanne, and his political achievements reflected this. He held the seigneurie of Léoville, he also held the title of Conseiller du Roi like his father-in-law and he was elected as Président à Mortier of the Bordeaux parliament. His estate included vineyards which we know today as Château d’Issan and Château Palmer. He was an extremely influential and also wealthy figure, and who did much to bolster the reputation of the estate. Even at this early point in the history of the Médoc, the Léoville estate was recognised as being second only to the four accepted first growths of the era, these being (using the names they carried at the time) Château Latour, Château Lafite, Château Margaux and Château Pontac (better known today as Château Haut-Brion).
Many Bordeaux-minded historians note that Blaise Antoine and his wife Jeanne had no children, although that is not strictly true. The couple had two children, both boys, but tragically both died in infancy, in 1724 and 1727. As a consequence they had no heirs when they died. Blaise Antoine died in 1753, while Jeanne passed away sometime around 1766. At this point the estate was taken in hand by the descendants of Louise Jeanne de Moytié, Jeanne de Moytié’s sister.
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