How to purchase a French vineyard?

There are plenty of French vineyards for sale but it is not that easy to find them. Individuals looking for a house to buy in France are spoilt for choice with local and international agencies specialising in French real estate and dedicated websites offering all sorts of information on buying and living in France. However, people interested in buying a vineyard in France have to work a lot harder. Although there is no shortage of vineyards for sale in France you are unlikely to see many for sale signs. Why is this and what is is the trick to finding a suitable property?

Firstly, many sales take place by word of mouth. Owners will often contact their neighbours in the first instance, particularly if they are selling off part of a vineyard rather than a whole estate, and a transaction will take place without the involvement of a selling agent. The vast majority of vineyard transactions involve the sale or purchase (or in some cases a straight swap) of individual parcels of land, rather than an entire estate, and thus tend not to come onto the open market.  

Vendors and professional buyers also rely heavily on the network of professional advisers who specialise in this field – lawyers, notaires, accountants, bankers and winemaking consultants. One such network that does offer public access is Jurisvin, a network of French notaires who specialise in all aspects of vineyard property advice, including sales and purchases, inheritance tax, company formation, agricultural leases etc. 

The regional SAFER (Sociétés d'Aménagement Foncier et d'établissement Rural) also play an important role in vineyard transactions. As non-profit-making state entities tasked with supporting rural development they play a key role in all agricultural transactions given their right of pre-emptive purchase in all such transactions and also offer properties for sale on the open market in the same capacity as a real estate agent.

Finally there are of course the real estate agents. It is advisable to seek out those who specialise in selling vineyards given the complexity of this type of transaction. They are also likely to have the largest selection of vineyard properties for sale and will often be able to put buyers in touch with other specialists in the field. 

In summary, finding French vineyards for sale can be a time-consuming and complicated process, which is why using the services of a buying agent such as Vineyard Intelligence can save both time and money.