Château Poujeaux: The Theil Era
Philippe Castaing had in fact died in 1920 (it is possible that the 1922 Cocks et Féret was just a little behind the curve on this – it wouldn’t be the first time a deceased proprietor was listed as still in charge). Whatever the reason, was clearly an opening for a new name. The new face on the scene was François Theil.
Like many newcomers (especially those arriving at Libourne) François Theil had come down to the Bordeaux region from Corrèze, in doing so following in the footsteps of the Moueix and Audy families, among others. In 1903 he bought Château Le Pape in Léognan, before then selling up in 1920 in order to finance his purchase of Château Poujeaux the following year. In truth he only bought one-third of the original estate though, that part which had belonged to the late Philippe Castaing. Thus he was in charge of one-third of the vineyard when all three properties were ranked in the 1932 Cru Bourgeois Classification.
Subsequently the other two-thirds of the estate were acquired by Jean Theil, François Theil’s son. He brought the Jacmart vines into the fold some time before 1942. The Marly vines had passed to the Thibaut family at some point, morphing into Château Poujeaux-Thibaut, which Jean acquired in 1957. With all three parts reunited the estate went by the name we know it today, simply Château Poujeaux, and there were 40 hectares of vines in production.
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