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釀酒工作將交給埃里克·魯索管理，他將租下土地、打理葡萄園，同時把三分之一的產(chǎn)量交給吳志誠。預(yù)計(jì)這個葡萄園一年的產(chǎn)量在一萬瓶到1.2萬瓶之間。
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圖為吉夫瑞·香白丹(Chateau de Gevrey-Chambertin)酒莊外景。據(jù)吉夫瑞·香白丹釀酒商聯(lián)合會主席讓-米切爾·吉永(Jean-Michel Guillon)說，這座建于12世紀(jì)的酒莊于今年早些時候以出人意料的800萬歐元賣給了來自澳門的博彩業(yè)大亨。
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在法國爆發(fā)不滿以來他首次接受媒體采訪時，吳志誠表示收購這個葡萄園是一筆充滿情感的投資。吳志誠在富豪何鴻燊創(chuàng)辦的酒店與賭場運(yùn)營商澳門博彩控股有限公司(SJM Holdings Ltd.)擔(dān)任營運(yùn)總裁。圖為吉夫瑞·香白丹酒莊內(nèi)景。
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吳志誠在一份聲明中說，該酒莊的翻修工作將由備受尊敬的法國建筑師拉波特(Christian Laporte)操刀。拉波特尤為擅長修復(fù)歷史建筑，與此同時，所有翻修方案都將經(jīng)過該地區(qū)專于保護(hù)項(xiàng)目的公司批準(zhǔn)。
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賣方的律師、波爾多頂級釀酒師埃里克·魯索(Eric Rousseau)和吳志誠在Chez Guy餐廳。吳志誠在早些時候的聲明中說：“我極其高興能請來埃里克，希望他的精湛的技藝和專長能讓這個酒莊重新生產(chǎn)出勃艮第最好的葡萄酒。”
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圖為釀酒師埃里克·魯索（左）、吉夫瑞·香白丹市長羅伯特(Jean-Claude Robert)和吳志誠合影。吳志誠對葡萄酒的滿腔熱情促使他與波爾多、勃艮第以及羅訥河谷的許多頂級釀酒師，還有各地聲名卓越的葡萄酒批發(fā)商及拍賣行建立了緊密而持久的關(guān)系。
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這座吉夫瑞·香白丹城堡位于法國東部，帶有2.3公頃的葡萄園。
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釀酒工作將交給埃里克·魯索管理，他將租下土地、打理葡萄園，同時把三分之一的產(chǎn)量交給吳志誠。預(yù)計(jì)這個葡萄園一年的產(chǎn)量在一萬瓶到1.2萬瓶之間。
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圖為吉夫瑞·香白丹(Chateau de Gevrey-Chambertin)酒莊外景。據(jù)吉夫瑞·香白丹釀酒商聯(lián)合會主席讓-米切爾·吉永(Jean-Michel Guillon)說，這座建于12世紀(jì)的酒莊于今年早些時候以出人意料的800萬歐元賣給了來自澳門的博彩業(yè)大亨。
Louis Ng, the Macau casino executive who faced a vitriolic backlash in France after he bought a vineyard in Burgundy, says the reaction was 'beyond expectations' and is pledging to pour at least 8 million ($10 million) into the estate to restore it to its former glory.
Mr. Ng, a multimillionaire, says he is determined to pacify his new neighbors. In his first interview with the media since the furor erupted in France last week, the chief operating officer of SJM Holdings Ltd., the hotels and casino company founded by tycoon Stanley Ho, said the purchase was an 'emotional investment.'
The 60-year-old Mr. Ng is the leader and largest shareholder of a group of six Hong Kong investors who in May paid 8 million for Chateau de Gevrey-Chambertin, a run-down 12th-century residence along with 2.3 hectares of vines. A well-known collector among the region's wine lovers, Mr. Ng─who owns 2.3% of SJM Holdings, a stake valued at US$263 million─estimates he owns 250,000 bottles spread among several industrial warehouses in Macau and employs four people to handle his collection.
The deal was completed quietly in May. But when the French media uncovered the Chinese oenophile to be the buyer last week, a backlash ensued in France, with many local farmers and politicians calling on the government to intervene, fearing that wealthy foreign investors would push out the small, artisanal winemakers in the region.
'Now, I have remedial work. I just want to appease my neighbors,' said Mr. Ng over lunch, between sips of a 2003 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, a Burgundy white wine that is among his favorites. 'We don't see this as a moneymaking vehicle,' he said. 'I don't have a business plan.'
Mr. Ng said he intends to spend 8 million on the renovations of the property and has employed a French architect who specializes in historical preservation. Work on the chateau, with about 10,800 square feet of space, could take as long as three years, Mr. Ng said. He added that he hopes to spend parts of his summer at the mansion after it is redone.
Even French politicians are weighing in on the purchase. French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, who is from Burgundy, says he is happy to welcome outsiders to the region, where he was for years an elected representative.
'I'm in favor of foreign investment in French agriculture and winemaking, because it helps them shine around the world,' Mr. Mountebourg said. For the minister, whose government has pledged to reverse France's nonenergy trade deficit within five years, such investments could also prove helpful from a policy front.
But some local winemakers in France aren't so thrilled with the arrival of a rich outsider. Jean-Michel Guillon, a winemaker who led a group who tried to buy the property for 5 million, is staunchly opposed to the deal, calling on government to intervene. 'You can't buy land in China as a foreigner,' Mr. Guillon said. 'It's logical for us to do the same here in France.'
Mr. Guillon insists that the opposition is about economics, not ethnicity. He fears an influx of foreign capital will drive up the price of vineyards and make it difficult for him to pay the transfer tax when he passes his own to his children. The French government bases the transfer tax on the average price of the previous year's real-estate transactions.
Jean-Marie Fourrier, another winemaker in the same village as Mr. Ng's Burgundy estate, said he is also concerned about a spike in vineyard prices. Sixty years ago, a farmer could pay off the price of acquiring a vineyard from the proceeds of one harvest, he said. These days, the same land requires 50 years of work to pay it off. 'A lot of younger people don't want to be paying the bank for all of their life,' he said.
Other observers contend that Mr. Ng vastly overpaid for the estate, saying it grows mediocre vines in a middling location.
'It's not that the Chinese have stolen from the French, but the French seem to be ripping off the Chinese,' said Jasper Morris, a Burgundy wine critic and buyer for Berry Bros. & Rudd in London. 'It's not a great property. I wonder why there's such a fuss.'
He added that a restoration of the chateau, which he says is in 'very bad condition,' would be 'a credit to him and the village.'
The winemaking will be left to Eric Rousseau, a top Burgundian winemaker, who will lease the land and tend to the vines while giving Mr. Ng one-third of the production, expected to be between 10,000 and 12,000 bottles a year.
In Hong Kong's wine circles, Mr. Ng's new venture is making news. Vincent Cheung, a retired Hong Kong lawyer and a wine collector since the 1980s, called Mr. Ng 'one of the biggest collectors in Asia' with 'very sophisticated tastes.' He called Mr. Ng's purchase a 'clever move because it's so rare to have a chateau on your property in Burgundy.' Wine estates with large-scale living quarters are much more likely to be found than in the Bordeaux region than in Burgundy.
Mr. Ng said Hong Kong's wealthiest are congratulating him on the purchase. 'The rich tycoons are calling me,' he said. 'They all say, 'Wow, what a smart buy.' '
JASON CHOW
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