Related News
Ma buys French vineyard Chateau de Sours
Print Edition
CHINA’S second-richest man Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has become the latest investor from his country to snap up a French vineyard.
The self-made billionaire has bought the Chateau de Sours vineyard in the famed wine-growing region of Bordeaux, which boasts a castle dating back to the 18th century and an 85-hectare property which produces 500,000 bottles of wine a year.
He purchased the vineyard from Briton Martin Krajewski via one of his Hong Kong-based businesses, a legal notice said.
The announcement said the new manager of the vineyard is Kien Leong Lee, 40, who is also chairman of Dragonite International Ltd.
Dragonite describes him on their website as a specialist in vineyard management and wines investment.
The Chateau de Sours produces red and white wines and says on its website it is also “leading a renewed global interest in top class rose.”
More than 100 properties in France’s southwest wine-producing area are today owned by Chinese tycoons looking to diversify fortunes built upon real estate, jewelry, industry or tourism holdings.
This makes up 1.5 percent of the region’s 7,000 vineyards.
Part of the appeal for the Chinese is the status that comes with possessing a noble French chateau as part of their wine-growing property.
The chateaux with old towers, extensive cellars, symmetrical architecture and carefully tended gardens are sought after.
But the business potential is the key consideration.
China is the biggest consumer of red wine in the world and remains the largest export market for Bordeaux.
Most of the properties they have pocketed — like Chateau de Sours — do not make “grand cru” wines, but instead produce relatively unknown labels at the cheaper end of the market.
Ma, 51, a former English teacher who soared to the top of the super-rich lists after creating Alibaba and is now worth US$21 billion, committed in December to protecting the jobs of the 18 people employed at the property.
Krajewski, who bought the vineyard in 2004, sold it for lack of profitability, local media said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
