One of France’s biggest online wine retailers, ChateauOnline.fr, has unexpectedly been put up for sale.

ChateauOnline’s owner, Trinidad and Tobago-based CL Financial, has suffered financial difficulties due to the global economic crisis. Its UK wine operation Paragon Vintners went into administration earlier this year.

Evelyne Resnick, a wine consultant specialising in web marketing, told decanter.com, ‘I am surprised Chateauonline is up for sale because the site is doing very well. However, that could make it a good time to sell, as they are expecting to break even for the first time this year.’

Fabrice Bernard, a director at Wine & Co, another leading internet wine site, denied they would be interested in purchasing the site. ‘We are always looking for opportunities for expansion. 70% of new clients are coming through our website, but this is not an opportunity that we will be pursuing.’

According to a report by Bordeaux’s business school earlier this year, ChateauOnline receives 150,000 visitors a month, with annual revenue of 10 million euros.

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Written by Jane Anson

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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