The January purchase of Château -Leguens in Entre-Deux-Mers by a Chinese trading company might have passed under the radar of many observers of the wine industry, but over time the deal has taken on ever-growing significance: it marked the first Chinese purchase in Bordeaux and now investors from the East are continuing to infiltrate the global wine map.
Bordeaux has seen a raft of Chinese investment, with the region gaining popularity with investors from the East due to its connotations with top-end luxury and expensive investments.
Indeed, at the time of the Château Latour-Leguens deal, Daniel Carmagnat, of property agency A2Z, which handled the transaction, admitted: “The attraction wasn’t the appellation itself, but a foothold in one of the most prestigious wine regions in the world.”
Subsequent deals saw Chinese luxury goods company Hong Kong A&A International buy a controlling interest in one of Bordeaux’s oldest estates, Château Richelieu, while a billionaire Chinese investor bought the Château Chenu Lafitte estate in Côtes de Bourg as a gift for his son in November last year.
Lately Philippe Raoux, owner of Château d’Arsac in Margaux, became the latest Bordeaux winemaker to sell property to a Chinese buyer when he sold his 20-hectare Lalande-de-Pomerol estate Château Viaud to Cofco – owner of the Great Wall wine brand and a company owned 100% by the Chinese government.
