We were interested to see the recent sale of the acclaimed Bordeaux vineyard: Chateau Petit Village in the tiny but highly prestigious appellation of Pomerol. Pomerol famously saw the sale of 20% of Chateau Petrus announced last year for 200 million Euros so to see another well-known brand transact is a sign that the top end of the market remains active.

Pomerol is a small (800 hectares) but very prestigious wine region where the vineyards are worth on average approximately 1.8 million Euros per hectare. Chateau Beauregard, owned by the Moulin and Cathiard families since 2014, it has 17.5 hectares made up of 35 parcels and the wine sells for between 30 and 60 Euros a bottle. Beauregard have signed an agreement to purchase their neighbour, Chateau Petit-Village which has 10.5 hectares in a single plot and sells their wine for 70 to 80 euros a bottle – thereby making them one of the biggest owners in Pomerol.

This transaction took Bordeaux by surprise and is one of the largest transactions (of a complete chateau estate) in Pomerol for some years. Beauregard have recently constructed a brand-new winery and intend to embark on a new stage in the development of Chateau Petit-Village.

The seller of Petit-Village is Axa Millésimes, the wine division of the French insurance giant Axa. Axa is diversifying its investments worldwide, where they already own “Quinta do Noval” and “Quinta do Passadouro” both in Oporto, Chateau Pichon-Baron and château Pibran in the Medoc, chateau Suduiraut (Sauternes) as well as vineyards in Hungary and Burgundy and have recently purchased Outpost winery , on Napa valley’s Howell mountain, for approximately $40 million.

From a market point of view, we continue to consider Lalande de Pomerol, the immediate neighbour to Pomerol as one of the most interesting Bordeaux vineyard appellations to invest in.