1.3 ha vineyard sold for 15.5 million euros – 09/30/2024 – Red or White

The LVMH group, owner of super luxury wine brands such as the Bordeaux Château Cheval Blanc and the Krug and Dom Pérignon champagnes, in mid-September, purchased 1.3 hectares of vineyards in Burgundy for a mere 15.5 million euros! This astronomical value is causing outrage among other vineyard owners in the region.

No, it’s not envy. The problem is that the overvaluation of properties creates a huge problem for families in vignerons (vineyards). In France, inheritances pay quite high taxes. When parents die, to take over the family property, their children have to pay 40% tax on the market value of the land.

Even though their wines are very expensive and their land is worth so much, these families, for the most part, are not millionaires. Wine production tends to be small and is always expensive. Therefore, the profit is not so much. As for the value of the properties, these people are sitting on mountains of gold, but they can only use this fortune if they sell the properties. And they don’t want to do that at all.

But now they are being forced to sell to pay inheritance taxes. And other producers don’t have candy to buy. Only groups of investors or billionaires have enough capital.

“In this way, all of France’s jewels will belong to the club of the world’s ultra-rich”, declared Thiébault Huber, winegrower from Meursault and president of the CAVB (Confederation of Denominations and Winegrowers of Burgundy) to the French press. “We will no longer have family farm businesses.”

They fight to change tax rules. If they don’t succeed, the tendency is for the grand crus and premier crus, more special parcels of land, to all end up in the hands of companies outside of Burgundy. And then the question remains: will these companies know how to make wines as special as those of today?

For most mortals, this makes no difference, as Burgundy wines are already absurdly expensive. Prices for wines from highly rated producers usually start at around R$300 and can reach a few thousand. These high prices, however, are already an effect of the love that billionaires have for the region. Thirty years ago, these wines were expensive, but not unaffordable.

But this love comes not only from the blessings of nature, which in fact provides ideal conditions for the production of great wines. Much of Burgundy’s fame also comes from the lifestyle of its people. vigneronsartisanal production, exclusivity. The charm of the local lifestyle.

Without a doubt, the LVMH group has its charm, and knows how to produce great wines. However, it has a kind of charm that he will never have, the charm of simplicity. These are vignerons they have plenty, despite the price of their wines.

It’s always the same story. Money seeks to possess what it cannot buy. And, in this desire for possession, he destroys his object of desire. On a smaller or larger scale, we see it happen all the time. With the Caiçara village, the deserted beach or even the quiet neighborhood.

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