Château Talbot: Origins & History
There is a curious element to the history of Château Talbot, in that it appears to have been named after a man who never owned the property. That the nearby Château Léoville-Las-Cases should be named for the Marquis de Las Cases makes sense; after all he owned the property, and the family maintained that ownership through the French Revolution. Alright, so the Marquis did have to abscond for a few years, returning only when the fervent desire of the new citizens to see his noble head rolling in the street had eased a little, but my point holds true; the property was named for the owner. The same is true for the Barton suffix appended to Château Léoville-Barton and Château Langoa-Barton; it has long been a natural part of ownership within Bordeaux to stamp your possession of a particular property on it in this fashion.
These days this practice is becoming less common for the grandest names, where the value of the brand takes precedence over the wishes of the owner, which in any case is more often than not a multinational conglomerate, insurance company or pension fund than a wealthy or blue-blooded individual. For less exalted châteaux, however, the practice is not unusual; as we have seen with the Barton family’s recent acquisition of Château Mauvesin, subsequently Château Mauvesin Barton, in the Moulis-en-Médoc appellation. But why, we should ask, was Château Talbot seemingly named for John Talbot (1387 – 1453), Earl of Shrewsbury, even though there appears to be no direct evidence that he ever owned this property, or indeed owned any vines in Bordeaux at all?
Please log in to continue reading: