Gerard Depardieu

Ch�teau Latour, Yours for $200 Million

Filed under: Wine

Fabled Bordeaux brand Château Latour, widely regarded as one of the finest wines from the Medoc region, is being offered for sale by top-drawer investment bank Lazard Freres, the London Times reports. French business tycoon and president of the luxury-goods group PPR, François Pinault, is seeking $200 million - $280 million for it, the paper reports.

Pinault, whose holdings include Christie's (also rumored to be for sale), Gucci and Puma, piad about $150 million for Latour in 1993. Bernard Magrez, owner of the rival Pape Clément winery, is said to be a strong contender, perhaps with backing from his and friend fellow wine aficionado Gérard Depardieu.

The Château Latour estate consists of 190 acres of Bordeaux vineyards, but only grapes from the 115 acres that surround the actual chateau at the heart of the estate are used to make the Grand Vin de Château Latour (right). A case of the 1961 vintage fetched an impressive $170,000 at auction by Christie's in Hong Kong last month.

Gallery: ChÃ¢teau Latour

Tags: Bordeaux, Chateau Latour, ChateauLatour, Christies, France, Francois Pinault, FrancoisPinault, Gerard Depardieu, GerardDepardieu, Gucci, Medoc, PPR

Watches for Wine: Magrez Gives Wine Journalists Cartier Presents

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Wine

Wine tycoon Bernard Magrez has run afoul of journalists by offering them what looks to be a classic bribe. Decanter reports that Magrez and his partner in wine, French actor Gerard Depardieu hosted journalists at a press lunch at the Alain Ducasse restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris on March 26. At the end of the lunch, journalists were giving a press kit and a box that contained a Cartier watch worth $2,641.

After what must have been some interesting moments of desire versus ethics, many of the journalists decided to either donate or return the watches. Magrez told Decanter he wasn't trying to buy good press, he was just using the watch as a way to commemorate the special occasion. The French website Backchich certainly isn't buying that. In their article titled The Advantages of Being a Wine Journalist, they feature a cartoon of a woman dressed in sparkling jewelry with a note pad and a glass of wine. My French is a bit rusty but I the caption roughly translates to this wine is rich and generous just like Mr. Depardieu.

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Tags: bernard magrez, cartier, gerard depardieu