Right Bank foray into Medoc as Clos Fourtet buys Chateau Poujeaux

Philippe Cuvelier, owner of Clos Fourtet in St-Emilion, has bought Chateau Poujeaux, the large former cru bourgeois estate in the Medoc, it was announced today.

Cuvelier, who previously ran a major office supplies retailer, bought the 20ha (hectare) Saint Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classe estate Clos Fourtet in 2001 for a reputed €45m (£34m,US$66.8m) from the Lurton family.

The new acquisition extends his presence onto the Left Bank, in the Moulis appellation, just west of Margaux.

Chateau Poujeaux, owned by the Theil family since the 1920s, today comprises 100ha divided among the four grape varieties of Bordeaux (50% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot) on a gravel-rich terroir. Currently, around 75ha are planted to vines, the rest being mainly forest.

As a one-time cru bourgeois estate, Poujeaux remains embroiled in the ongoing legal wrangling as to its status.

Poujeaux will be managed by Cuvelier’s son Matthieu, alongside the same estate manager as at Clos Fourtet, Christophe Labenne. Consultant Nicolas Thienpont (who works with Right Bank property Pavie Maquin) and oenologist Stephane Derenencourt (whose employers include Domaine de Chevalier and La Tour Figeac) will also extend their remit to the new property.

‘We wanted to buy something with an existing reputation and an excellent terroir, but that we could really bring something to,’ Matthieu Cuvelier told decanter.com. ‘We plan to invest heavily in quality, and are very excited at the potential.’

The property is believed to have been bought for around €25m (£19m, US$37).

Written by Jane Anson