As An Oak Cometh: Château Haut-Marbuzet, 1995 – 2024
…as an oak cometh of a little spyr…
– Troilus and Criseyde (c.1385), Geoffrey Chaucer
In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer describes, through the medium of an epic poem, the tragic love tale of the Trojan prince Troilus, and Criseyde, the daughter of an immigrant prophet who foretells the fall of Troy. Which, unfairly perhaps, makes his daughter less than popular, and an unsuitable choice for the prince’s hand.
While the tale is renowned for its account of the emotional upheavals that follow, shoehorned by Chaucer into 8,000 (!) lines and five (!!) volumes, it is also notable for being the first use of a popular English proverb. Chaucer describes the growing love Troilus has for Criseyde “as an oak cometh of a little spyr,” a precursor of the more recognisable modern phrase;
…great oaks from little acorns grow…
With my pedant’s hat on, a spyr is a shoot or sapling rather than an acorn, but the meaning is the same. From small beginnings do great things come.
A few centuries later I find Chaucer’s newly coined phrase aptly describes the genesis, development and modern-day status of Château Haut-Marbuzet. Look back to the time of World War II and there was no Haut-Marbuzet. Or, more precisely, the Haut-Marbuzet we know today did not exist; there was a small parcel of vines that went by this name, but the proprietor did not bottle or sell the wine himself. Instead he sold the fruits of his labour to a local character named Hervé Duboscq (1909 – 1933).
This remained the status quo during the 1940s and early 1950s, until the proprietor revealed he wished to sell. Rather than lose access to one of his best sources of wine, Hervé Duboscq, now well-established as a négociant, decided to expand his business activities beyond buying and selling and to move into production. He struck a deal to take over the parcel of vines, but rather than pay cash he agreed to pay with a quarter of his annual production.
The acorn was planted. The spyr was taking hold.
Hervé and Henri Duboscq
In my profile of Château Haut-Marbuzet, published back in 2007 and very recently updated once again, I provide an account of the original Haut-Marbuzet parcel, with all the required minutiae on its origins. I will refer readers to that profile for these ancient historical details. Instead here I will just focus on how Hervé and his son Henri (pictured below, right, with his own son Hugues) developed the property.
