Chateau Marquis d'Alesme Becker |
| Newstime：2009-08-04 09:31:28 Befrom： Writer： |
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History
The Marquis in question established this eponymously defined estate in the late 16th Century, in 1585. Viticulture quickly followed, and records indicate that by 1616, and probably before that, the Alesme Becker wines were on the marketplace alongside those of more illustrious estates further north in the Médoc. Following the death of Marquis d'Alesme Becker the estate was run by his widow, and over the ensuing centuries the estate had a string of different proprietors. It was classified as a third growth in the 1855 classification, a fact that seems very easy to overlook today, as the wine and estate have certainly been low-key in recent years.Nevertheless, business in the 19th Century must have been good, as the 1855 ranking was objective, based on selling price rather, than a subjective opinion such as that which we can form on tasting the wines of the current era. In addition, the erection of the elegant chateau, completed in 1859, also indicates that the estate's finances at that time were in rude health. By the early 20th Century, however, the estate was floundering, no doubt the inevitable succession of crises of phylloxera, oidium, economic depression and then two wars which tore Europe apart contributed not insignificantly to its deterioration.
The property came into the ownership of Jean-Jules Théophile Chaix-d'Est-Ange, a lawyer of great repute, who had also inherited Chateau Lascombes from his father. His intention was to amalgamate the two estates, but he died in 1923, before he achieved his aim. Subsequently his successor, the adopted Comte Emmanuel du Bourg du Bazas, sold Alesme-Becker to WH Chaplin & Co, an English firm that had already acquired Malescot St-Exupéry. Neither property saw any real investment during the Chaplin years, and this situation would not change until the Zuger brothers entered the scene, purchasing both in the mid-20th Century.
Chateau Marquis d'Alesme Becker remained with the Zuger family for half a century, passing efrom the ownership of Paul Zuger, who died in 1981, to Claude Zuger, his son. But whereas Malescot St-Exupéry, which passed to the other son, Roger, has shown considerable improvement over the last few decades, to the point where the wines are, in my opinion, certainly desirable, those of Chateau Marquis d'Alesme Becker have persistently failed to impress. It may have been that Claude Zuger simply did not have the drive or commitment to bring the estate up a level compatible with its third growth status, and this assumption would be supported by the sale of the estate in 2006 to Hubert Perrodo, who seemed at the time to be an up-and-coming Margaux property magnate.Perrodo made his fortune in business, in particular the petrochemical business. He founded Perenco, an energy firm specialising in exploration and exploitation of fossil fuels which today operates over three continents. In 1989 Perrodo purchased Chateau Labégorce, and with the acquisition of Labégorce-Zédé and the long inactive l’Abbé Gorsse de Gorsse in 2006 it was widely reported that his intention was to reunite all three to recreate the original Labégorce vineyard. Along the way, however, he also acquired the vineyards, vinification facilities and cellars of Chateau Marquis d'Alesme Becker for a sum of more than
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