Château Malescot St-Exupéry: The Zuger Era
There was further expansion and investment, but despite this the property once again came up for sale, in 1901. This was a period of uncertainty for Bordeaux, with the crises of phylloxera and oidium recently passed, and with economic depression and conflict yet to come; no doubt some of these events influenced their decision to sell. The estate was thus sold, as it happens mostly to a German, Herr Lerbs, from Bremen. He bought a very significant slice of the domaine at auction, handing over just 155,000 francs for the pleasure, which seems like something of a bargain. Another slice of the domaine was snapped up by another buyer, and gave rise to a new domaine, which was christened Château Dubignon-Talbot, an obvious nod to the old Philippe Dubignon estate. Another section was probably acquired by Jean Lavendier, mayor of Margaux and the proprietor of Château La Gurgue since 1904.
The new proprietor kept hold of his new acquisition for little more than a decade, as in 1912 the estate was sold again, this time to the German Adolph Seignitz of the firm Seigneitz & Co. He was also from Bremen, but he worked in Bordeaux as a négociant, and he also bought Château Chasse-Spleen at about this time. Just two years later the Great War erupted in Europe, and the property was confiscated by the French government. Sadly for Seignitz, the estate was then sold, and the new owner who bought it in 1917 was a Frenchman named Fouquet. He also sold it, just two years later, to a Scottish firm of merchants W. H. Chaplin & Co., from Glasgow, who would also go on to purchase the vineyards (not the buildings) of Château Marquis d’Alesme-Becker from Comte Emmanuel du Bourg du Bozas (1894 – 1990). The two vineyards were essentially absorbed into one, the name Château Marquis d’Alesme-Becker disappearing from the marketplace, the wines all made in the Malescot St-Exupéry cellars.
