Big in Bordeaux: with seven chateaux, Hong Kong billionaire Peter Kwok’s French love affair continues
Unlike some Chinese investors who tired of the novelty of winemaking, Kwok says he is in Bordeaux for the long haul, 20 years after buying his first chateau
Over the past decade Chinese investors have conquered dozens of chateaux in Bordeaux, France’s famed wine-growing region.
Some left after seeing their investments wither on the vine, but Peter Kwok, who has no fewer than seven vineyards to his name, says he is here for the long haul.
The 69-year-old Hong Kong-based billionaire has been in southwest France for the past 20 years, recently snapping up Chateau Bellefont-Belcier, a Saint-Emilion grand cru.
The acquisitions – though making up only 1.5 per cent of the region’s 7,000 vineyards – have stirred sensitivities about growing foreign investment, particularly Chinese, in strategic or heritage sectors.
In February, President Emmanuel Macron said he would work to prevent foreign investors buying French farms after it emerged that a Chinese fund had bought nearly 3,000 hectares of wheat fields in the centre of the country.