Château Margaux: The Ginestet Era
In 1937 the Société Viticole de Château Margaux took the perhaps unusual step of purchasing a neighbouring property, Château Durfort-Vivens. This led to a diminution of this estate’s reputation; its wine was vinified in the cellars of Château Margaux, and despite the earlier creation of Pavillon Rouge before long Durfort-Vivens came to be regarded as the unofficial second wine of Château Margaux. During this time château-bottling also faltered, and the estate returned to shipping in barrel, undeniably a backwards step.
This era of committee-led ownership came to a gradual end during the middle of the 20th century as Fernand Ginestet and his son, Pierre Ginestet, gradually acquired more and more of the available shares in the estate. In this they worked alongside one Monsieur Boylandry, Mayor of Saigon and a successful wine merchant. There came a point when the only significant members of the committee were Boylandry, the Ginestets and the aforementioned Lurton family. The Ginestets eventually bought out Boylandry, and in 1949 they struck a deal with the Lurtons; the Ginestet family would take the 40% stake held by the Lurtons, in exchange for Clos Fourtet, and in doing so the Ginestets became in essence the sole proprietors of Château Margaux. Not to mention Château Durfort-Vivens.
This was not the last time the two families would strike such a deal. In 1961 the Ginestet family sold most of the Durfort-Vivens estate to Lucien Lurton; he acquired the vineyards, and the cellars, but not the château, which remained the property of the Ginestet family. It would eventually find its way into the hands of Philippe Porcheron, who would christen it Château Marojallia.
