The name on the present label, “Château Le Crock”, is the result of a gradual evolution of the original name given, around 1830, by Widow Merman: “Cru de Croc” or “de Crock”. Ten years later, however, the label was transformed into “au Crock” and then “ Le Crock” in the first Féret wine guide in 1850. The title “Château” before the name only became systematic from the 1880s.
Our curiosity is aroused as to the possible origins of the unusual name “Crock” or “Croc”.
There are two main lines of thought: Firstly “Croc” means Crow in old Médoc and Gascony Patois and secondly “Crock” is an English-inspired deformation of Croc.
Nowadays in Saint-Estèphe, Château Le Crock overlooks a hook-shaped stretch of marshland to the North of the Lafite marshlands, known locally as the “Marais du Crock” (the Crock Marsh). The interesting shape of this marsh, revealing no tributaries from inland, could have given its name to this place. Croc in this case would have an extremely ancient origin based on a toponym.
In fact Croc was a common word in France from the twelfth century onwards. It could mean a grapnel-type hanging hook, a pole with a hook on the end or the canine teeth of large mammals. Following this by derivation from these roots, we have “crochet ” (hook in modern French and also “croquet”. In the early 19th century, this popular game of French origin was the first outdoor game to be played by the British aristocracy. Then known as “jeu de croc” (game of Croc), it was the ancestor of Cricket and Golf.
The Anglo-Saxon consonance of Crock reflects the Anglophile fashion of this time, particularly as the Mermans were very close to the Lawtons and their allies such as the Johnstons and the Bartons. Moreover, the appearance of the “Cru de Croc” or “de Crock” coincides perfectly with the croquet trend of the era. The fashion began in England during the reign of Louis Philippe, in 1838 to be precise. The game of Croc thus became Croquet through imitation of the Anglo-Saxon consonance “crocket”.
So the Merman family apparently maintained the local place name but adjusted the pronunciation to a more dynamic sounding: Crock. This word probably sounded more appropriate to reflect the powerful typical character of a Saint-Estèphe wine.
