€30 million/ha for Burgundy Grands Crus? Real estate prices soar with investors cornering the region’s vinous jewels

In recent years, the minute an outstanding Grand Cru or Premier Cru goes up for sale, one winner very often outbids the other candidates: Deepak Rao, vice-chairman of FICOFI, a wine company specialising in Grands Crus with a connoisseur wine club” whose members are in Singapore, Paris and Pessac. The comment is by French journalist Jacques Dupont, writing for Le Point, who adds that nowadays, this means “there is one price for industry members and one for the Chinese”. He points to six FICOFI companies investing over 120 million euros in the most prestigious Burgundy real estate.

When contacted, FICOFI replied that it does not “give media interviews about our business”. Thiébault Huber, chairman of the Burgundy appellation and winegrower federation CAVB, stressed that they are not the only companies involved in such high-profile purchases and extreme prices. “There are those that specialise in stratospheric prices with the kind of set-ups for transferable leases and land tenancies over three years that they go unnoticed. And yet, property is eluding us, not the regional appellations but the true Burgundy gems which are disappearing, and that’s what’s worrying us”, stresses the Meursault winegrower. Although the magnitude of the issue has not been quantified, these low-key transactions imply prices for the Grands Crus that are up to five times market prices: “We’re talking about prices of €30 million a hectare. Things are spiralling out of control”, laments Huber.

The national land registry federation (SAFER) is tasked with policing agricultural land and admits, at least implicitly, that it has no means of controlling or monitoring these transactions, despite progress made since the Sempastous bill of 2021. “There are still loopholes. Complex legal set-ups, such as the use of holding companies and intermediary companies, still allow people to circumvent the system”, says SAFER.