The daughter of the former owner of Chateau Montrose is going to court to fight the sale of the chateau that took place earlier this year.
Caroline Charmolue, daughter of ex-proprietor Jean-Louis Charmolue, will go to court in Paris to ask that the sale, to French businessmen and brothers Martin and Olivier Bouygues, be annulled.
The grounds for the annulment are as yet unknown, but one Bordeaux insider suggested that Caroline Charmolue feels that the relatively low selling price of the chateaux will harm its reputation. Her father was unable to clarify the situation.
‘I don’t know and my lawyers don’t know,’ Jean-Louis Charmolue told decanter.com. ‘She just didn’t want us to sell.’
Charmolue also said that he had not seen or talked to his daughter since 24 April this year.
‘As soon as the sale went ahead, she hired a Parisian lawyer,’ he said.
A verdict on the case, which is currently being prepared, is not expected for 12 to 18 months.
According to Charmolue, his daughter played very little role in the running of the chateau.
Jean-Louis Charmolue and his wife, Anne-Marie now run the 58ha (hectare) Chateau Romanin property in Provence.
Although the exact amount paid for Chateau Montrose remains undisclosed, Anthony Barton, of Second-Growth Bordeaux Chateau Leoville-Barton, said the new owners would ‘have to double the price of the bottle to pay for the sale.’
It has not been possible to contact Caroline Charmolue for comment.
Written by Oliver Styles
