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LVMH adds 1.3 ha of land in Burgundy for €15million

30 September 2024 By Arabella Mileham

Luxury goods giant LVMH has acquired 1.3 hectares of vineyards in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or for a reported €15.5 million, due to the high cost of inheritance tax for local winemakers.

The 1.3 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards in Aloxe-Corton region was acquired by the Arnault-controlled conglomerate from Poisot Père & Fils, who founded the estate in 1960, from plots originally inherited from Marie Poisot, daughter of Louis Latour (who cultivated the estate until 1986).

The acquisition includes half a hectare each in Corton-Charlemagne and Romanée-Saint-Vivant, as well as 0.3 hectares in Corton Bressandes.

According to Le Bien Public publication, the Poisot family, who also own parcels in Pernand-Vergelesses and Vosne-Romanée, have sold only a portion of their 2ha holdings but will retain control over the overall estate. Fourth generation winemaker Rémi Poisot (great-grandson of Marie Poisot) told the Journal du Centre that the family would continue to run all the vineyards as the estate had not been bought out.

“We will continue to work without any interference, LVMH just bought this land which belonged to my family, because of inheritance problems,” he was reported as saying. “The inheritance taxes are so high. We are not millionaires; we had to find a solution.”

The sale highlights the soaring cost of land in Burgundy, and what locals describe as the damaging effects of heavy taxation on the heirs of small vineyards prompting wider concern that local wine growers are being forced out, and powerful corporate players are transforming the landscape.

Thiébaut Hubert, president of the Burgundy Winegrowers’ Confederation (CAVB), had previously voiced his concerns about the rise in vineyard values pushing land prices and its knock-on effect on inheritance taxes – the the point where it is “completely disconnected from the economic reality of vineyard work.” He has previously called for a distinction between family transmission and pure sale of land, “so that our operating model can survive”.

LVMH’s made its first foray into Burgundy ten years ago, when it bought the 14th century Clos des Lambrays in Morey-Saint-Denis in April 2014, one of the oldest vineyards in Burgundy and at the time, one of the largest grand cru of the Côte de Nuits. Since then, it has continued to acquire land in the region, adding plots in Corton Grand Cru, Pernand-Vergelesses, and Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru in Burgundy, while also expanding its land in Bordeaux which includes the Sauternes estate of Château d’Yquem, as well as a stake in Château Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion. Along with Napa Valley’s Colgin Cellars, these four comprise the company’s Vins d’Exception, focused on wines from exceptional terroirs.