Thierry Manoncourt

Thierry Manoncourt (22 September 1917, – 27 August 2010) was a French winery owner of the Grand Cru estate Château Figeac in Bordeaux, and for many decades a major figure of Bordeaux and the Saint-Émilion appellation.

Early life Thierry Manoncourt was the son of Antoine Manoncourt and his wife Ada Elizabeth, born Villepigue. Ada Elizabeth was the daughter of André Villepigue and his wife Henriette, born de Chevremont. Henriette's father (Thierry Manoncourt's great-grandfather) Henri de Chevremont bought Château Figeac in 1892.

Bottle of Châteu Figeac 1995 with a label commemorating Manoncourt's 50th vintage; 1943 and the 49 consecutive vintages 1947-1995. Manoncourt served in the French army during World War II, and ended up in Germany as a prisoner of war.

Winemaking Manoncourt was thus in charge of the estate when the first classification of Saint-Émilion wine was formally drawn up in 1955. Today, Château Figeac is classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé (Class A), the first tier in Saint-Émilion. During Manoncourt's lifetime, however, that designation was held only by two other estates, Château Ausone, and Château Cheval Blanc. Having Château Figeac being classified on par with these two was a lifelong ambition of Manoncourt, and he was very disappointed that this was not done in the disputed 2006 reclassification, in particular since the wine's price rather than its quality was cited as the reason for keeping it as a Class B.

Manoncourt's son-in-law Comte Eric d'Aramon (married to Laure, daughter of Thierry and Marie-France Manoncourt) took over the daily running of Château Figeac in the 1980s, but Manoncourt continued to his death to be active in Figeac's marketing activities and continued to be seen as the estate's front face.