Property magnate Jacky Lorenzetti has beaten at least one First Growth in a fierce bidding war for Pauillac estate Chateau Béheré, whose vineyards lie next door to Chateau Mouton-Rothschild.
Lorenzetti (pictured), owner of Chateau Lilian Ladouys in Saint Estephe and Chateau Pédesclaux in Pauillac, recently bought a 50% stake in Chateau d’Issan in AOC Margaux.
Chateau Béheré is a small ‘cru artisan’ Pauillac estates with just over 4.7 hectares of vines, making around 33,000 bottles per year.
It is next door to Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and all its plots of vines are surrounded by prestigious classified properties.
Decanter.com understands it has been at the centre of a fierce bidding war from several top Pauillac estates over the past few years, including at least one First Growth.
‘At that price, it was only really viable for a cru classé,’ vineyard expert Alexander Hall told Decanter.com, citing the likely price per hectare of around €1.4m.
The previous owners, Jean-Gabriel and Anne-Marie Camou, created the property in 1993. Camou had run his own plumbing business, and bought vines that had been sent to the Pauillac cooperative, creating his own estate. His parents had moved to Pauillac from the Basque region of France in the 1950s as workers for the more prestigious estates nearby.
The Camous are selling the vines, not their house, and as the cellar is attached to the house, the new buyer will have to construct a new cellar – or vinify within the Pauillac appellation.
Lorenzetti, also owner of Paris rugby club Racing Métro 92, made his money through property group Foncia. His fortune was last year estimated at €245m by French business publication Challenges, having risen in 2011 but fallen from a pre-financial crisis high of around €700m.
Emmanuel Cruse, managing director of Lorenzetti’s other estates, is expected to run the new property.
Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux
