ILLUSTRATION
DALE EDWIN MURRAY
not so long ago,
you couldn’t even get a
decent plate of crispy duck in Bordeaux.
Even by French standards, the inhabitants
of the nation’s premier wine-growing
region fiercely favoured their own cooking
above all else. It may come as a surprise then, to hear that
if you find yourself in a château for a meal today, you’re
just as likely to be proffered chopsticks as a knife and fork.
It’s not that the locals have suddenly embraced the
complexities of Szechuan spicing, but that Bordeaux is
now one of Europe’s prime hotspots for Chinese visitors.
It all comes down to one thing: French wine is a key
status symbol among China’s growing affluent class and
this has caused Chinese tycoons to start buying estates
at a rapid rate. The trend began with Château Latour-
Laguens in 2008, and today at least 70 châteaux belong to
Chinese owners. Bellefont-Belcier, La Rivière,
Loudenne…. A billionaire fromDalian owns
25. In the appellation of Fronsac, the
Chinese now own 10% of the vineyards
and in 2014, this trend looks set to
accelerate as Chinese buyers snap up a
reported one château per month.
The Chinese are only following the English, Danish,
Swiss and other investors over the years, but no other
foreigners have arrived so quickly, in such numbers and
with so much money. A Bordeaux château is prestigious
and entrepreneurs can get a stately home for the price of a
pied-à-terre in Hong Kong. They can then also ship the
wine back to China and sell it for far more than in Europe.
It’s a clever plan, but is it a good thing? On the one
hand, some fear that, because the Chinese simply view
these estates as business opportunities, it will affect how
the wines are made and sold, breaking centuries of
tradition. On the other, this investment is much needed
– particularly in these economically straitened times.
Perhaps they can look to Château Marquis d’Alesme.
Not only does Franco-Chinese Nathalie Perrodo-Samani
make a superb classified growth, but she has spent
millions in renovations that combine French
traditions with Oriental sparkle by building
a cellar that evokes a dragon’s tail.
“Dragons symbolise potent powers,”
she says. “We’re hoping to imbue the
vineyard with those qualities -
and
bring some luck.”
D O W N T O
B U S I N E S S
B O R D E A U X
“Enter the dragon”
The Chinese are making a splash right now in Bordeaux, buying up vineyards
across the region, but, asks
Suzanne Mustacich,
what are the implications?
“Entrepreneurs
can get a stately
home here for the
price of a pied-à-terre
in Hong Kong”
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V I E W P O I N T S
