 After maintaining the reputation of the wine for several decades, Chasse-Spleen was sold in 1976 to a consortium controlled by the Merlaut family, eventual owners of châteaux including Gruaud-Larose, Ferrière, Citran and Haut-Bages-Libéral.After changing career from teacher to winemaker, Jacques Merlaut's daughter Bernadette Villars and her husband took control of the estate and with the collaboration of Professor Émile Peynaud, great improvements to the facilities and quality of wine followed.She became a figure of renown before she and her husband died in a mountaineering accident in the Pyrenees in 1992.