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Château Lafon-Rochet sold to real estate magnate

13 September 2021 By Lucy Shaw

The Tesseron family has sold Château Lafon-Rochet in St.-Estèphe to French-Swiss real estate magnate Jacky Lorenzetti for an undisclosed sum.

As reported by Wine Spectator, the purchase of the fourth growth château takes Lorenzetti’s tally of classified growth estates in Bordeaux to four.

In addition to Lafon-Rochet, Lorenzetti owns Château Pedesclaux in Pauillac and Lilian Ladouys in St.-Estèphe. He also has a 50% stake in Château d’Issan.

Jacky and Françoise Lorenzetti are the new owners of Lafon-Rochet

“When you have already invested in St.-Estèphe and Pauillac, and a bank offers you an opportunity to buy an estate like Lafon-Rochet, you don’t say no,” Emmanuel Cruse, general manager of Lorenzetti’s estates, told Wine Spectator. “It’s certainly among the greatest terroirs of St.-Estéphe,” he added.

The Tesseron family purchased the 45-hectare estate in 1960, which is currently managed by Basile Tesseron. The vineyards surround the château in a large contiguous plot close to neighbour Cos-d’Estournel.

According to WS, following the sale, Cruse will take on the management of the estate, and Basile and his team will look after the 2021 harvest. Rather than implementing radical changes, Cruse wants to fine-tune the wines.

“The quality has already improved recently with Basile and his team. It’s always exciting to try to do better if we can. Lorenzetti has the goal of making the best wine possible,” he said.

Jacky Lorenzetti is chairman of his family’s firm Ovalto, and is estimated to be worth €1.7 billion. He made his fortune through real estate and is the owner of Paris rugby club Racing 92.

He remains on the lookout for further wine investments in France, and is currently scoping out opportunities in Provence, Burgundy and the Rhône.

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