Chateau Prieuré Sainte Anne
A trio of Belgian investors will take control of the historic Côtes de Bordeaux estate, Chateau Prieuré Sainte Anne.
(Image credit: Vineyards-Bordeaux)

A deal for Château Prieuré Sainte-Anne has countered a trend for Bordeaux estates being sold to buyers outside of the EU.

Château Prieuré Sainte-Anne, an AOC Côtes de Bordeaux producer near to Capian, has been bought by Belgian private investors Mr Herwig and Mrs Annelies Callewier-Corne.

The married couple have acquired the 8.15ha hillside estate overlooking the right bank of the Garonne river with 4.45ha of vines, plus the historic château residence complete with a tennis court and swimming pool. A fee was not disclosed.

Most of the estate’s wines are exported to Germany and Austria and the property is ‘commercially viable’, said estate agency Vineyards-Bordeaux, affiliated to Christie’s International Real Estate.

The deal counters a trend for Bordeaux châteaux to attract buyers from outside the EU; in April this year Château Vieux Paquillon was sold to a mystery Australian buyer and Château de Lagorce joined the ranks of estates to be bought by Chinese investors.

The sellers are French winemakers, Hervé and Suzanne Flipo, who bought the estate 20 years ago. It was they who replanted the vineyards and built a new winery in 2005.

‘We have poured our heart into Le Prieuré Sainte-Anne over 20 years and we are delighted to have been a part of its long history,’ they said.

‘It is the end of a rich chapter for us and we are looking forward to supporting the new owner for the next year while they transition.’

Buoyant Bordeaux market

‘The Bordeaux vineyard market remains buoyant with enquiries up on last year and increasing interest from France and European investors,’ said Vineyards-Bordeaux CEO, Karin Maxwell.

‘We are averaging about one vineyard transaction per month in 2018 so far.’

Figures from September 2017 put the number of Chinese-owned Bordeaux estates at around 160, although Bordeaux correspondent Jane Anson also warned against over-hyping these sales, pointing out that many can end up back on the market.

Updated 25 June 2018 to clarify that Mr Herwig and Mrs Annelies Callewier-Corne are a married couple and are the sole purchasers of the estate.

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Laura Seal
Laura Seal
Decanter Magazine, Food, Wine & Travel Writer

Laura Seal is a freelance food, wine and travel writer based in London, but travelling regularly to Spain.

Besides writing travel guides, learning content and news stories for Decanter, she has also contributed to Country Life and US-based Food&Wine Magazine.

After graduating from UCL with an English Literature & Language degree in 2016, she joined Decanter as editorial and digital assistant. In 2017 she was promoted to the role of content creator on the digital team.

She worked with the Decanter design team to produce the much-loved ‘Tasting Notes Decoded’ series, which is published on Decanter.com and serialised in the magazine.

In addition, she compiles the 'A month in wine' feature for Decanter Magazine and formerly worked on MarketWatch.