Château Latour owner Francois Pinault has acquired renowned Burgundy winery Clos de Tart via his family-held investment company for an undisclosed fee.
François Pinault and his family announced on Friday (27 October) that they have bought Clos de Tart, the renowned domaine of Morey St-Denis in Burgundy’s Côtes de Nuits, via their holding company Artémis.
No fee was disclosed, although Burgundy grand cru vineyards are the most expensive in the world, costing several million euros per hectare. Clos de Tart has 7.53 hectares.
Some reports in France suggested that the purchased price was possibly as high as 250 million euros, but this could not be verified.
It marks the latest in a string of high profile winery sales this year.
There has been speculation over Clos de Tart’s future for several weeks. At least one other high profile bidder showed significant interest, but decided not to pursue a deal, Decanter.com understands.
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Clos de Tart was created in 1141 by a group of nuns, les Bernardines de Tart, a branch of the nearby Cistercian congregation. It was requisitioned after the French Revolution and sold at auction in 1791 to Charles Dumand and the Marey-Monge family.
More recently it was owned by Maison Champy and Chauvenet in Nuits-Saint-Georges, until the Mommessin family bought Clos de Tart in 1932 and has owned the estate until now.
From 1996, under the impetus of estate director Sylvain Pitiot, Clos de Tart is widely acknowledged to have seen a strong return to form and is again among the most prized wines of Burgundy.
Clos de Tart is the largest monopole vineyard classified as Burgundy grand cru and has never been broken up.
The vineyard is largely defined by very stony soils, resting on calcareous subsoils and with clay near the surface.
Through Artémis, Pinault also owns first growth Château Latour in Bordeaux, Eisele Vineyard Estate in Napa Valley – previously named Araujo – plus Domaine Eugénie in Burgundy and Château Grillet in Northern Rhône.
With this purchase, François Pinault becomes the neighbour of his rival, Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH, which bought Clos des Lambrays in Burgundy in 2014.
