Michel Chapoutier buys Provence rosé Château des Ferrages

Maison Michel Chapoutier, the well-known producer of Tain-l’Hermitage in Northern Rhône, has bought Château des Ferrages in Provence.

Maison Michel Chapoutier, the well-known producer of Tain-l’Hermitage in Northern Rhône, has bought Château des Ferrages in Provence.

The move gives Chapoutier, the pioneer of biodynamic farming in the Rhône valley, a stronger position in the fast growing rosé wine sector and is evidence of an expansion strategy in this area.

Château des Ferrages is located in Pourcieux, between Aix-en-Provence and Saint-Maximin in the lowland of Sainte-Victoire. The estate covers 28 hectares and produces both Côtes-de-Provence and Côtes-de-Provence Saint-Victoire wines.

With a 1,000-square-metre winery that has a total production capacity of 3,500 hectolitres, the estate currently produces 1,400 hectolitres per year. That is equivalent to around 187,000 bottles, with 90% dedicated to rosé.

‘To us, Provence is a natural continuation of the Rhône Valley,’ Corinne Chapoutier told Decanter.com.

Maison Chapoutier will retain the Château des Ferrages brand, and will not include its umbrella logo bottle labels, Corinne Chapoutier said.

She declined to provide any more details before an official press release. But in all likelihood, the Château des Ferrages estate will not operate using biodynamic farming methods, at least in the short term.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Château des Ferrages was previously owned José Garcia and had been in the same family for three generations.

Global rosé wine sales are around 2.6bn bottles annually, according to the most recently released figures from research group The IWSR and trade show Vinexpo.