Billionaire Jerry Perenchio’s vineyard listed for $20m

A 1.41-acre vineyard owned by the late Jerry Perenchio has gone on sale for US$20m, offering the chance to own a slice of the billionaire’s Chartwell Estate, which was recently listed for $245m – the most expensive property ever listed in the US.

Perenchio, the former chairman and chief executive of American-Spanish broadcaster Univision, died last year at the age of 86. He was an avid wine collector, and his vast collection of mature French wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux went to auction last year and raised $12 million for his family foundation.

His staggering Bel Air mansion, Chartwell Estate, hit the market last week with an asking price of $245m, and had included a hillside lot where Perenchio planted a 1.41 acre (0.57ha) vineyard.

However this vineyard has now been listed to be sold separately, with an asking price of $20m, giving those with a slightly lower, but still exorbitant budget, the chance to own a slice of America’s most expensive property.

To compare this to Burgundy, the average cost of a one hectare grand cru vineyard in the Cote d’Or was estimated at just under €14m ($15.8m) in 2017, according to French land agency Safer. By those averages, a 0.57 hectare (the same size as Perenchio’s vineyard) grand cru vineyard in Burgundy could cost on average around €7m.

Perenchio’s 1.41 hectare (0.57ha) vineyard is listed at $20m, some $13m more than the average asking price in Burgundy, which is a little difficult to swallow.

Still, the hillside vineyard also has a unique history going for it, and said to have been the site of many a party in the 1960s and 70s, when the former property, since demolished, belonged to John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas, who later rented it out to soul and funk pioneer Sly Stone.

Today, the French neoclassical Chartwell Estate is situated on 10 acres in the heart of Bel Air, and offers panoramic views from downtown to the Pacific Ocean, 75-foot pool with pool house, tennis court, car gallery for 40 vehicles, 12,000 bottle wine cellar and manicured gardens “befitting a chateau in France”, according to its listing.

The home traded hands multiple times before Perenchio bought the property in 2006 for $15 million, according to Mansion Global.

Chartwell Estate