Domaine Clarence Dillon completes Saint Emilion chateau deal

Haut-Brion owner Domaine Clarence Dillon has completed the purchase of Chateau L'Arrosée in Saint Emilion.

As announced earlier this year, the Dillon family agreed to buy estate through its wholly owned subsidiary, Quintus SAS, from Jean-Philippe Caille.

These two arms will be merged under the Chateau Quintus name, yielding a vineyard of 28 hectares, the family said this week.

Quintus SAS president, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, said, ‘by uniting these two exceptional estates, we have improved our team’s ability to make one of the very finest wines of Saint Emilion‘.

His task now is to negotiate the region’s ranking system. Saint Emilion has far stricter rules than the Médoc about incorporating new vines into classified estates.

Prince Robert appears to be following the example of the Moueix family, which recently combined the vines of Chateau Belair-Monange and those of Chateau Magdeleine. As both Moueix vines were classified, Belair-Monange was able to retain its Premier Grand Cru Classé B status.

L’Arrosée was classified in the previous Saint Emilion ranking. Quintus was not classified under its own name, but under its former title of Tertre Daugay, which survived until early 2012.

Because of the name change, Quintus was not submitted for the most recent ranking in 2012, although most observers believe that it will feature in future revisions.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux