Château Moulinet, Pomerol, Beijing investor
Château Moulinet in Pomerol is now owned by a Beijing investor.
(Image credit: Château Moulinet)

A group of Chinese châteaux owners in Bordeaux led by billionaire Jack Ma now has more than a dozen estates under its umbrella after a Beijing investor bought Château Moulinet in Pomerol.

  • Beijing investor buys Pomerol’s Château Moulinet
  • Joins Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma’s Bordeaux wine club

Château Moulinet, a 16.8 hectare wine estate in Pomerol located close to Château de Sales, is the Beijing investor’s first Bordeaux estate purchase, according to DecanterChina.com, sister site of Decanter.com.

It will now form part the group of estates jointly run by associates including Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Chinese online retailer Alibaba, and Zhao Wei, famous Chinese actress and singer.

Ma owns Château de Sours and Château Perenne, and Zhao Wei owns Château Monlot and Château Patarabet in St-Emilion.

The Bordeaux négociant Cellar Privilege, part-owned by Ma and set up to serve Chinese wine clients, is also part of the club. Cellar Privilege is based at Château Senailhac and claims to have underground storage space for up to one million bottles.

Decanter.com understands that there are now 15 Bordeaux châteaux within the group, which does not share ownership but works together for technical direction and distribution.

Moulinet deal

‘This is a significant purchase of a high quality château with huge potential,’ Ken Lee of Cellar Privilege told Decanter.com.

‘We will be keeping on all of the existing team, and will maintain the existing distribution, while increasing the focus on China.’

The property is planted to 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, and had been owned by SCEA Armand Moueix since 1971.

Once distributed entirely through the JP Moueix stable, today 80% of Moulinet wines are sold through the Place de Bordeaux via around 15 négociant houses.

Stéphane Derenoncourt is believed to be staying on as consultant, as he has worked with Moulinet since 2008. Prior to that, the consultant was Denis Durantou, and Jean-Claude Berrouet – veteran Pétrus winemaker – has also previously made the wine at the estate.

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Jane Anson
Jane Anson

Jane Anson was Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent until 2021 and has lived in the region since 2003. She writes a monthly wine column for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, and is the author of Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines (also published in French as Elixirs). In addition, she has contributed to the Michelin guide to the Wine Regions of France and was the Bordeaux and Southwest France author of The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost a Fortune. An accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux École du Vin, Anson holds a masters in publishing from University College London, and a tasting diploma from the Bordeaux faculty of oenology.

Roederer awards 2016: International Feature Writer of the Year