Bordeaux : Jean-Luc Thunevin cède Château Bellevue de Tayac (Margaux)

Jean-Luc Thunevin has sold his four-hectare Chateau Bellevue de Tayac in AOC Margaux, in order to pay off debt and focus on his remaining right bank estates. Wine investment group GFV Saint Vincent Bellevue de Tayac has bought the Cru Bourgeois estate (pictured). The price was around €4m, Thunevin's assistant, Cecile Montsec, said.

The new owner has in-turn entrusted day-to-day operations to the family of Vincent Fabre, which already makes Cru Bourgeois in the Medoc, including at Château La Tonnelle and Chateau Landat. 

'It's not only the Chinese or insurance companies or those on the CAC40 [France's FTSE100 equivalent] who buy vines in Bordeaux's top appellations,' Thunevin said on his blog. 'A lot of deals are simply winemakers looking to expand or diversify.'

Thunevin, who bought Bellevue de Tayac back in 2004, said that some of the proceeds will be used to repay bank debts. 

The rest will be put into his remaining estates, mainly in Bordeaux's right bank, which include Chateau Valandraud, a St Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classe, as well as St Emilion Grand Cru estates Clos Badon Thunevin, Prieure Lescours and Bel Air Ouy, plus Clos du Beau Pere in Pomerol.

source : decanter.com