Château Trotanoy: The 20th Century
In the 1874 Cocks et Féret the brothers remain in charge and the production is holding steady at 50 tonneaux per annum, as was still the case in the 1886 edition, but thereafter the production and also the vineyard went into decline. Having previously been recorded at 25 hectares, by the time the 1908 Cocks et Féret was published the vineyard had contracted to 18 hectares, while production dropped to 40 tonneaux. It seems likely that the domaine was shrinking as sections were sold off to settle difficulties with its inheritance. The estate seems to have passed by now from the brothers to the next generation (Léopold’s son, another Savinien) and then to his son, also called Savinien Giraud (1871-1960).
Under the direction of this latest Savinien Giraud, Château Trotanoy was incorporated as the Société Civile du Château Trotanoy, no doubt to protect it from new inheritance difficulties resulting in further diminution. By this time the vineyard covered just 11 hectares. After more than two centuries at the helm, however, the Giraud era was drawing to a close. The first change of hands came shortly after World War II when Giraud sold the estate to the Pécresse family.
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