The Chateau Bellefont-Belcier is said to be on the verge of being sold to a Chinese buyer, or perhaps already sold. It is also said to be the first “classified growth” to have been sold to a Chinese.
The price has not been published but it is believed that classified chateau in Saint Emilion fetches between €1 and 2€ per hectare, which would then mean somewhere in the range of 15 to 30 million euro for Chateau Bellefont Belcier. The buyer is said to be a chinese industrialist and business man.
According to Decanter Magazine there are a number of hurdles to be overcome before the purchase is finalised, not least getting approval from French regulators.
Château Bellefont-Belcier is located a few kilometres east of the town of St Emilion in the commune of St. Laurent des Combes. It has 13 hectares of appellation land, all located around the chateau building. The grape variety is mainly merlot, with some cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc added. It has a quite unusual vat hall or fermentation hall (or winery if you prefer) in a circular design made long before circular designs become fashionable in wine cellars.
It is one of the chateaux that are classified as “Grand Cru Classé” in the new Saint Emilion classification.
This is the latest in about a half-dozen properties in Bordeaux that have been sold to buyers from China, film stars, food conglomerates, industrialist etc.
[box type=”info”]Chateau Bellefont Belcier is one of the wineries in Saint Emilion that we have had on a wine tour and wine travel program. If you want to explore the wineries of Bordeaux or other wine regions take a look at our wine tour program at BKWine![/box]
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