Château Margaux: The Fumel Era
Eventually, in 1746, François-Delphin d’Aulède passed away. Although he seems to have married twice, to Elisabeth Antoinette Julie Le Fèvre de Caumartin on July 17th 1702, and to Marie Antoinette Charlotte de Lenoncourt sometime after 1753, he sired no children. Upon his death his widow Marie Antoinette took control of Château Margaux, despite being of a considerable age, while his sister – Catherine Olive d’Aulède de Lestonnac, the widow of François-Joseph de Fumel (died 1688 – he was apparently assassinated) – took on responsibility for Château Haut-Brion. Sadly Marie Antoinette died just a couple of years later, and after her death Château Margaux came into the hands of another member of the Fumel family, in this case Joseph de Fumel (1720 – 1794).
Under Fumel quality was further improved on the estate; the wine was increasingly popular, and in 1771 it was the first-ever claret to be sold at auction at Christie’s. The estate was classified as premier cru by the broker Labadie in 1776, based upon a sale value of between 1,200 and 1,500 lives per tonneau, well above the prices achieved by its neighbours. It also found favour with Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), the American ambassador to France, Founding Father and oenophile, who later became the third person to hold the office of President of the United States of America (between 1801 and 1809). He enjoyed the wine so much he purchased bottles from the 1784 vintage which he took back to the fledgling USA with him.
