Valençay
There are numerous lords, knights, clergymen and kings who have shaped the course of France’s wine history, but Valençay lays a claim to one of the most notorious. During the early years of the 19th century this small town was the home of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754 – 1838), more commonly known simply as Talleyrand. The search for a suitable residence led this duplicitous diplomat – who served as Napoleon’s foreign minister, but who was lampooned in a caricature depicting him with six different faces, each muttering words of support for a different master – to the grand château which stands at the top of the hill in the town of Valençay.
Talleyrand acquired the estate in 1803, and after taking up residence he would host foreign dignitaries (and if instructed he might also imprison them – whatever would aid Napoleon in his scheming). The period of his occupancy of the château (one small corner of which is pictured below) was a golden age for the property, and given that he and his chef were prone to throwing sumptuous feasts it seems likely that Talleyrand’s patronage fostered the development of the vineyard in this otherwise distant corner of the Loire Valley.
You might imagine, given not only his standing but also the fact that Talleyrand had purchased Château Haut-Brion just a couple of years earlier (in 1801), that he poured the famous first-growth-to-be at his table, but there is no reason to suppose this. Although its proprietor in truth Talleyrand paid Haut-Brion scan attention, and he went on to sell it soon after his purchase of Château de Valençay, in 1804. We also know that during his tenure of the property he oversaw the planting of 10 hectares of vines on the Valençay estate. Talleyrand was a fan of Valençay wine, it seems; or, at the very least, he made sure he had a rich supply to pour for his ‘guests’.
