Château Magdelaine: Jean Chatonnet
With the years that followed each of these domaines grew, but it was perhaps Château Magdelaine that evolved the most. The proprietor during this era was Jean Chatonnet (died 1895), who had also not long acquired Château Fonroque from the Malet-Roquefort family. On September 12th 1864 he married Marie Angélica Viaud (1848 – 1918) and they had two children; these were Jacques Jean Hubert Chatonnet (1874 – 1960) and Marguerite Aline Chatonnet (born 1892). The latter married Georges Claude Marie Auguste Jullien (1865 – 1942) on April 9th 1896, and as a consequence with the passing of her father Jean in 1895, a large part of the deceased’s estate was acquired by the Jullien family.
Georges Jullien was a notary, and he and his wife were blessed with a son, Jean Jullien (born 1898). The Jullien family looked after the estate for a few decades, and it was during their tenure that the name mutated from La Madeleine to La Magdelaine, reclaiming the name used in the 1850 Cocks et Féret, a change perhaps made in order to differentiate it from the other Madeleine estates.
A Golden Era and Decline
This was a successful time for Château Magdelaine, the estate often listed in or close behind the very top tier in the St Emilion appellation, alongside the likes of Château Ausone, Château Belair and Clos Fourtet and others.
