An anonymous Australian investor has bought Château Vieux Paquillon in Montagne-St-Emilion to take advantage of Australia's current 'love affair' with Bordeaux.
Vieux Paquillon has become the latest of several wine estates to change hands on Bordeaux’s Right Bank in the past 15 months.
Estate agency Vineyards-Bordeaux said that the Montagne-St-Emilion château was bought by an Australian buyer keen to purchase quality assets with ‘investment potential’, following an ‘extensive search process across several Bordeaux appellations, including St-Emilion’.
It did not identify the buyer, who was reported to have paid close the asking price of 2.12 million euros for Vieux Paquillon, which has around 12.6 hectares of vineyard. The precise fee was not confirmed.
Vieux Paquillon had previously been owned by Andre Benoist since 2004. Benoist also owns Château La Bergère in AOC Montagne-St-Emilion.
A spokesman for the buyer said, ‘Australia is having a love affair with Bordeaux and its wines at the moment.
‘However, although we will pursue domestic Australian markets, our plan is to maintain many of the existing distribution channels that the Benoist family have established.
‘We believe that the St-Emilion satellite appellations provide a very interesting investment opportunity and we are also excited to be able to work with Camille Benoist to develop wine distribution in the future.’
Camille Benoist, who owns the La Bergère negociant business, has signed a purchase agreement with Vieux Paquillon’s new owner to collaborate on sales for the next four vintages.
More winery deals could be in the pipeline for Bordeaux in general.
Michael Baynes, of Vineyards-Bordeaux, said, ‘This transaction represents the fourth vineyard transaction of 2018 for Vineyards-Bordeaux.
‘With five further vineyards under negotiation with [letters of intent] currently, the interest from French and international investors remains confident in the Bordeaux vineyard market.’
Vineyards-Bordeaux is exclusive affiliate to Christie’s International Real Estate.
