Château Maucaillou: The Dourthe Era Begins
The estate sailed into the 20th century without further significant development. Indeed, by the time the inter-war years arrived the vineyard had grown only slightly, to a total of just 3 hectares. Of note, however, only half of this area was planted to red vines, while the other half was white, not that unusual in this corner of Bordeaux (even if the whites are historically more associated with Listrac-Médoc, a few paces to the west, than with Moulis-en-Médoc).
It was during this period that the only significant sale in the estate’s history took place; this came in 1929, when both the warehouse business and the château with its vineyard were sold to two brothers, these being André Dourthe (1901 – 1975) and Roger Dourthe (1900 – 1984). Together they ran the wine business Georges Dourthe & Cie, and their new property – more warehouse and storage than vineyard – was ripe for viticultural development.
The two brothers remained at the helm for the next fifty-or-so years, and under their direction the vineyard grew significantly, so that by time the famed 1961 vintage arrived there were 15 hectares of vines here. This trend continued under the direction of the two brothers, so that during the next two decades the vineyard grew to an impressive 32 hectares, on an estate totalling 54 hectares.
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