2012 Château Guadet, St.-Émilion

This tiny domaine has a long, fascinating history. The Guadet family acquired the estate in the mid-15th century at the end of the Hundred years War, the time the Acquitaine returned to France's control. The Guadet family was important in the area of St. Emilion in the eighteenth century; the elder Guadet was the mayor of St. Emilion and the son became President of the Assembly at the time of the Revolution. In 1794 he and his family were guillotined. It is his picture which figures on the label.

The Lignac family bought the Château in 1844. At that time the Château was called Guadet-St. Julien (the latter part being the original name). It has descended from generation to generation since then. An interesting side-note concerns the present owner, Guy-Petrus Lignac. His parental great-aunt was Mme. Edmond Loubat, and she acquired the almost-forgotten Château Petrus in the late 1920s. The Château's fame came after she acquired it. She requested of her nephew that he name his son Petrus. Mme. Loubat herself had no children. But Mr. Lignac had just lost a brother, Guy, in World War II, so he decided to honor both his brother and his great aunt's request, by combining the two names. Consequently his son was given the name Guy-Petrus. Guy-Petrus' son, Vincent, is now in charge of all facets of the estate, including the wine-making.