Roederer sells Chateau Bernadotte to King Power Group

Champagne Louis Roederer has sold one of its Bordeaux properties, Chateau Bernadotte, to the Hong Kong-based King Power Group, a leading travel retail and duty free business.

The Cru Bourgeois property in Saint-Sauveur, near Pauillac, was part of Roederer’s 2006 acquisition of a majority stake in famed Pauillac estate Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande from May-Eliane de Lencquesaing.

Chateau Bernadotte has a 40-hectare vineyard in the Haut-Medoc appellation and produces about 200,000 bottles of wine a year.

King Power has a diverse array of interests including property investment, manufacturing, sports and health services, but is best-known as a duty free and travel retail operator.

Also the owner of the Agatha fashion accessories brand, it has a retail network selling luxury brands such as Dom Perignon and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, plus leading Cognac houses Hennessy, Remy Martin and Martell.

In a joint statement by the two companies, King Power said it would use its retail network, especially in travel retail, to support development of Bernadotte on the international market.

The deal comes less than three weeks after former Chateau Montrose COO Nicolas Glumineau took over the running of Roederer’s Bordeaux properties from Sylvie Cazes.

As well as Pichon Lalande, Roederer also owns two properties in St-Estephe: Chateau de Pez and Chateau Haut Beausejour.

Written by Richard Woodard