Chateau Quercy, an 18th Century Saint Emilion Grand Cru estate, has become the latest Bordeaux wine property acquired by a Chinese buyer and sales agents expect more deals to follow.
The six-hectare Chateau Quercy was sold to an unnamed Chinese industrialist for an undisclosed sum, said Maxwell-Storrie-Baynes (MSB), affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. The asking price of the property, owned by the Apelbaum family since 1988, was €4.95m excluding stock, the agency confirmed to DecanterChina.com
Asian investors’ interest in Bordeaux estates has risen steadily in the last three years, and the Quercy sale comes one week after another Chinese investor bought a majority stake in Chateau Trianon, also a Saint Emilion Grand Cru.
The deals suggest Asian investors are becoming more interested in Bordeaux’s most prestigious appellations.
‘The Chinese investor was looking for a long time and was more focused on very large vineyards,’ Li Lijuan, China marketing director of MSB, told DecanterChina.com. ‘We encouraged him to consider prestige instead of quantity.’
The buyer chose Chateau Quercy mainly because the chateau building ‘looks like a castle’ and was more ‘prestigious looking’ than most other Saint Emilion grand crus, according to Li.
The new owner intends to install a family member at the chateau to oversee business.
Potential Asian buyers showed great interest in Bordeaux chateaux during a well-attended seminar hosted by MSB during the recent Vinexpo Asia-Pacific fair in Hong Kong.
‘To date there have been 90 Bordeaux chateaux purchased by Asian investors and we expect that number to rise to over 100 by the end of 2014,’ said Karin Maxwell, executive partner at MSB.
China's real estate economy bubble is currently one of the main reasons driving investors abroad, said Li.
‘We have clients coming in almost every week. Appointment slots for viewing are fully booked until mid-July now. Bordeaux estates are still Asian buyer’s top choices.’
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