We were talking about it in February — the article is available below —, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, after the Entre-Deux-Mers, is now interested in the Côtes de Bordeaux.
Jack Ma has just acquired two wine estates in Bordeaux. These estates belonged to Bernard Magrez, a Bordeaux businessman in oenology.
The transaction amount for both domains — inventory included — Château Pérenne and Château Guerry, amounts to more than 11,8 millions of euros ! It is thanks to the specialized magazine Decanter that we know the amount of the transaction.
585’000 bottles produced each year
Perenne Castle, acquired by Bernard Magrez in 1997, represented 64 hectares in the Côte de Bordeaux appellation. This first domain produces 500’000 bottles of red and white wine per year and 85 % of the vines are planted with the Merlot grape variety — red grape —. The estate already existed in the 17th century and its castle was built in the 19th century.
Château Guerry is located in the Côtes-de-Bourg appellation. The cultivation of the vine dates back to the origins of the Roman conquest, in the 1st century AD. With around twenty hectares of Cabernet-Sauvignon and Malbec, the domain can produce 84’000 bottles of red wine each year.
Last february, Jack Ma had bought another Bordeaux wine estate : Sours Castle, in the Entre-Deux-Mers. The area covers 80 hectares and also has an 18th century building. Officially, it is the Domaine des Sours which is the buyer of the two new domains.
Magrez focuses on its classified wines
Bernard Magrez is not to be pitied. Although it is sold two wine properties, he still has 14 other properties in Bordeaux. Among its properties, he still holds 4 estates classified in each of the prestigious appellations : Château Pape Clement in Graves, Chateau Fombrauge in Saint-Emilion, La Tour Carnet in Médoc and Clos Haut-Peyraguey in Sauternes. His empire also extends to Languedoc-Roussillon, in Provence and Gascony with 17 properties. He also holds 17 other fields in Argentina, Uruguay, Chili, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Japan and California.
Bernard Magrez explained that the sale of these properties responded to an objective of releasing entry-level wines to focus on his classified wines.. He hopes soon to be able to buy a new renowned Château.
Jean-Nicolas Mouretin
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