French wine in Chinese bottles(1)
But times have changed, even in Fronsac. Chinese real estate investors based in Hong Kong and Beijing plopped down a small fortune last month and bought the place up—vineyard, chateau and pedigree included.
The deal was the second such purchase in just over a year. Another Chinese company gobbled up Chateau Latour-Laguens, in early 2008. It has since launched a multimillion-dollar renovation aimed at turning the middling wine into a high-end marque and the 500-year-old chateau into a destination for well-heeled Chinese wedding parties.
According to specialists involved in the negotiations, the Chinese buyers sought precisely what France is richest in: history, elegance, tradition and savoir-faire. “If they were interested in this chateau, it was because it has a long history,” said Sophie Roussov, a wine marketing specialist hired by Longhai International Trading Co. of Qingdao to manage Chateau Latour-Laguens and its renovation. Not to mention that it looked like a good way to make money.
In both cases, winemakers reported, the Chinese investors have laid plans to market the pedigree of their newly acquired Bordeaux wines to the nouveaux riches back home. There are 1.3 billion consumers in a China just starting to get reacquainted with the finer things in life, including wine.
