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DRC “worth more than Margaux”
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is worth more than Château Margaux, according to latest Liv-ex figures.
Using the same method recently applied to Bordeaux’s top estates to determine their worth, Liv-ex found that DRC is worth roughly €1.23 billion.
This places it just below Mouton-Rothschild (€1.235bn) and just above Margaux (€1.19bn) – so in fourth place on the list if it were a Bordeaux château.
The system Liv-ex used to calculate the châteaux’s worth, “considered the current trading prices for each major estate’s five most recent vintages multiplied by the quantities produced, before dividing the result by 1.5 to allow for margins taken by négociants and merchants.
“It then looked at recent transactions of major estates, and, to arrive at a final figure, multiplied the total income achievable by 15.”
While it admits that this method is based on historical sales of Bordeaux rather than Burgundy (which are usually much smaller), such is the popularity and prestige of an estate like DRC that “there seems little reason why it should not equally apply.”
Even more recently, a French journal Le Nouvel Observateur published a report which showed that of France’s 500 wealthiest people, 10 in the top 200 owned châteaux in Bordeaux.
In fact France’s wealthiest man, LVMH head Bernard Arnault, owns Yquem and Cheval Blanc as part of the luxury group’s stable.
The fifth wealthiest family, the Pinaults, own Latour. Chanel’s owners the Wertheimers own both Canon and Rauzan Ségla at number eight and the Bouygues family – who own Montrose – are at number 22.
The de Rothschild family appear at 73 with Mouton Rothschild but Edouard de Rothschild and his stake in Château Lafite are 164th on the list.
At 76th is Corinne Mentzelopoulos, owner of Margaux and the owners of Léoville Las Cases, the Delon and d’Alton families, are 173rd.
Also appearing in the top 200 are DRC’s Leroy and Villaine families, the Nonancourts of Laurent-Perrier (and Salon Mesnil) and the Moët, Chandon and Hennessy families.