Château Pavie-Decesse: Ferdinand Bouffard
As we follow the story of the Côte de Pavie vineyards through the latter stages of the 19th century, we can see the various fortunes of these vignerons wax and wane. To start with, by 1883 the latest edition of Cocks et Féret tells us that Mrs Adolphe Pigasse was still the most significant proprietor here, turning out 30 tonneaux each year. Following the demise of her husband, however, she sold off a number of parcels of vines, so that just a few years later, in 1886, this figure had fallen to just 15 tonneaux. By this time the largest landholder on the Côte de Pavie was a wealthy négociant named Ferdinand Bouffard, who had also inherited Domaine de la Sable, which lay at the foot of the Pavie slope. Together these two estates, which were contiguous and which would one day be amalgamated, had a combined output of 40 tonneaux.
From where exactly did Ferdinand Bouffard acquire all these vines? The authors noted that some were purchased from the Fayard family. In 1883 Monsieur Fayard, or Fayard-Talleman according to Bernard Ginestet writing in St Emilion (Jacques Legrand SA, 1988) and therefore presumably related to the Tallemon mentioned on the preceding page, was noted to have appeared on the Côte de Pavie, turning out 10 tonneaux. Domaine de la Sable was only turning out slightly more than this, so to get from these two vineyards combined up to 40 tonneaux it is clear that Bouffard must have purchased more vines. The implication is that some of the Pigasse vines also came into the mix (accounting for this domaine shrinking), either direct from the Veuve Pigasse or perhaps via the Fayard or some other family.
