Château Mangot: The Parraud Era
The Mangot section eventually came to Marie Madeleine Zobé-Lavaich, who by 1874 was producing 35 tonneaux (the equivalent of 140 modern-day barrels) of wine per annum. She subsequently passed the property on to her grandson, who set about remodelling the château and expanding the vineyard. By 1893 Gabriel Bourson had pushed production up to 140 tonneaux per annum, which included 100 tonneaux of red and 40 tonneaux of white wine. This was the state of play when the property was then sold, in 1896, to one Jean Parraud. The renown of the estate remained strong, even as it was passed to the next generation Pierre Parraud, and despite the vineyard having sickened through phylloxera.
Perhaps the Parraud family’s readiness to replant with vines grafted onto American rootstocks contributed towards maintaining this good reputation. And it is despite an unusual choice of varieties, the reconstituted red vineyard described in the 1898 Cocks et Féret as being one-third Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Bouchet de St Emilion, in other words Cabernet Franc. The remaining one-third was an eclectic mix which included Merlot and Malbec, as well as (somewhat less expected) Pinot Noir and Petite Syrah. Alongside, there was in the white vineyard Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat. Despite this unusual planting arrangement, under the direction of the Parraud family the estate won a number of gold medals and prizes at international expositions during the early 20th century.
