Europe is the leader in the wine industry, and France is Europe’s wine frontrunner. A large variety of grapes are cultivated in France, both unusual varietals and more internationally well-known ones. Buying a French vineyard can offer both a unique lifestyle and a thriving business.
6 Considerations When Buying a Vineyard
1. Work with a specialist when looking for French vineyards for sale. Not every vineyard that’s for sale is on the open market but a property specialist will be able to unearth these hidden gems.
2. Purchase an established vineyard that’s up-to-date and has mature vines. Otherwise, you need to be prepared for three years of losses before producing a decent volume. It’s well worth buying an estate that already has good vines, a distributor, and an established reputation. Also, buyers should consider the natural elements that can’t be changed, like soil, subsoil, exposure and microclimate.
3. An optimum vineyard size is 20 hectares, which should produce approximately 130,000 bottles annually.
4. There are two levels of land: Vin de Table and AOC (Appellation d’Origin Controlée). With Vin de Table land, you can declare that you have a Vin de Table or Vin de Pays wine, based on the varietals that are planted.
5. Many people purchase a vineyard with the thought of turning it into a B&B or a gite business. For this purpose consider buying a French farmhouse with outbuildings that can be converted into accommodation.
6. Vineyard pricing is based on a number of factors, including grape variety, age of the vines, quality of maintenance, spacing of rows and plants, percentage of plants that are missing, plot configuration, effluent treatment, chateau conditions, buildings and facilities, and production equipment.
7. Vineyards hold their value rather well. Even if winemaking isn’t profitable, property and land value will generally increase.
5 Popular Locations for Vineyard Patrons
Carefully consider where you’ll begin your search for suitable French vineyards for sale. This will determine the types of wine you can produce.
1. Bordeaux – The home of full bodied red wine! The Bordeaux area boasts some of the worlds most famous vineyards and produces some of the most expensive wine on the planet
2. Burgundy produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In the southern part of the Burgundy region is Beaujolais, which produces Gamay-based wine.
3. Champagne is where sparkling wine is produced. In order to technically be called Champagne, the wine from this region has to meet specific, strict guidelines.
4. Languedoc-Roussillon produces a broad range of wines, but the area is best known for its rosé.
5. Provence is famous for it’s refreshing Rose wines but this varied regions offers a huge array of vineyards for sale from St. Tropez to Chateauneuf du Pape.
Bordeaux: France’s Most Notable Wine Region
One of the best known names in the wine industry, Bordeaux produces more classed wine than any other region in France; vineyards in the Bordeaux region are responsible for 55 big-name wines. Bordeaux vineyards sell an average of 700 million bottles of wine to 160 countries annually.
The area has more than 123,000 hectares of vineyards (and approximately 10,000 chateaux), making it the largest vine region in the world. The land has diverse soil and varied climates, both of which allow for the production of a variety of wine, including red, rosé, dry white and sweet white.
What You Should Know About Running a Vineyard
Running a vineyard is physically strenuous and requires a variety of skills, like protecting the vines from different kinds of weather and making sure they’re free of plant and insect diseases. Vines need dedicated care daily, and each location and variety of wine will have its own needs. Ideally, you should have one employee for every 15 hectares.
There are also competitors to contend with and local laws that you have to abide by. It’s recommended for new owners to hire a wine specialist, called an oenologist, who can advise you on methods, soil and grapes.
How to find your perfect French property for sale
If you are looking for French property for sale then Home Hunts are perfectly placed to help you locate your perfect vineyard property. Home Hunts are a buyers agent which means the properties in our collection are those from all of our immobilier (estate agents) partners, our partners, property developers and our private network. We can work with you to identify your exact requirements and help source a selection of suitable properties and vineyards.
Visit our vineyards section to view some of our available properties or contact us to find out how we can help you.
