St-Estèphe loses its human monument

This time last year, just before the Bordeaux vintage, we lost one of the region’s human monuments, Thierry Manoncourt of Château Figeac. I am particularly sad to report the death last weekend of the owner of the most solid rock of the St-Estèphe appellation, Château Calon-Ségur.

Madame Capbern-Gasqueton, 88, did have a first name (Denise) but I cannot believe many people used it in the last few decades. She was a bit of a rock herself, certainly an institution, and could not have been more confident of her property’s value and particular character. This impressively consistent, long-living third growth, the...