{"id":19385,"date":"2026-08-06T13:47:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wineobjectives.com\/?p=19385"},"modified":"2026-08-06T13:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:47:30","slug":"provence-and-loire-vineyards-in-demand-as-historic-estate-finds-british-buyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineobjectives.com\/en\/press-review\/provence-and-loire-vineyards-in-demand-as-historic-estate-finds-british-buyer\/","title":{"rendered":"Provence and Loire vineyards in-demand as historic estate finds British buyer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plans outlined by the new owner of Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure in Provence include planting more vines and building a spa, as the deal\u2019s agent says this region and the Loire Valley are high on vineyard buyers\u2019 French wish lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chris<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Chris Mercer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published 5 August 2026In News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New owner Neil Utley at Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure in Provence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Image credit: Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provence vineyard estate Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure looks set to continue its resurgence after being sold to British entrepreneur Neil Utley and family for an undisclosed fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the latest high-profile vineyard property deal in sought-after Provence, where vineyards mingle with lavender fields and olive groves close to the Mediterranean sea.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vignelaure is one of the region\u2019s pearls, said Adam Dakin, founder of independent property specialist Wine Objectives that helped facilitate the recent deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once home to ancient Roman winegrowers, Vignelaure’s modern era began in the 1960s under Georges Brunet, ex-owner of Bordeaux\u2019s Ch\u00e2teau La Lagune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the estate makes ros\u00e9 \u2013 now a Proven\u00e7al calling card \u2013 it has a particularly strong reputation for high-quality reds<\/strong><\/a>, which are sourced from vineyards at relatively high altitudes (around 400m) for the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New owner Neil Utley said, \u2018Having considered a number of vineyards in and around the region we were drawn to Vignelaure as it wasn’t a blank canvas \u2013 our vision was to elevate something extraordinary. This is one of the few estates in Provence with a genuine red wine pedigree.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estate director and winemaker Philippe Bru will remain at the property, having been appointed by the previous owners, Swedish couple Mette and Bengt Sundstr\u00f8m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate plans include replanting some of the vineyard, as well as planting new vines on pre-prepared land. Vignelaure spans around 276 hectares in total, including woodland, with around 56ha under vine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utley added, \u2018Our role now is to become stewards of an estate that already has so much to offer, and to support Philippe Bru and his team in taking Vignelaure to the next level through focus, patience and long-term investment.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also plans to launch a cosmetics business, Maison Minu, to be based at the estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olive trees will be planted and bee hives installed to both support biodiversity and the new cosmetics operations, the owners said, adding they plan to build an on-site spa in the coming years, too.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provence and Loire vineyards in-demand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Provence\u2019s vineyard market has \u2018taken off again\u2019 recently, said Wine Objectives\u2019 Dakin. \u2018There’s quite a lot of movement. We’ve got another transaction down towards St-Tropez underway just now.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its appeal comes at a price, though. ‘It’s an area where land and buildings are relatively expensive’, said Dakin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a comparison, he said that wine lovers dreaming of buying a vineyard on a tighter budget might find a winery with 10 to 15 hectares of vines for around \u20ac500,000 in Corbi\u00e8res in the Languedoc to the west, but it’s a different picture in Provence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018That said, we\u2019ve got a small vineyard in the process of selling just now at \u20ac900,000. It’s a modern villa with I think eight hectares of vines around it and another building on the side which could be developed into a winery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s odd, admittedly, to find stuff under the \u20ac1m mark in Provence, and reasonably rare to find vineyards under the \u20ac2m mark, but they do exist.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he said the heart of the market is in the \u20ac5m to \u20ac10m bracket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loire Valley is another fashionable area to watch, said Dakin. Wine Objectives recently expanded north in addition to its longstanding focus on Provence, the Rh\u00f4ne and Languedoc in southern France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018There are a lot of people visiting, a lot of professional clients looking to buy there,\u2019 said Dakin of the Loire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change and consumer interest in white wines are among motivating factors for prospective buyers, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of vineyard land prices, Sancerre can reach \u20ac250,000 to \u20ac350,000 per hectare (p\/ha), said Dakin. But he said prices elsewhere, such as Savenni\u00e8res, are much lower and the Loire overall remains relatively inexpensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest in both regions comes amid a tough market situation facing some of France\u2019s major red wine regions, such as generic Bordeaux and the Southern Rh\u00f4ne outside top appellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent report by French rural land agency Safer showed Burgundy vineyard prices continued to defy gravity in 2025<\/strong><\/a>, yet also found declining values in Bordeaux.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plans outlined by the new owner of Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure in Provence include planting more vines and building a spa, as the deal\u2019s agent says this region and the Loire Valley are high on vineyard buyers\u2019 French wish lists. By Chris Mercer Published 5 August 2026In News New owner Neil Utley at Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure in Provence. (Image credit: Ch\u00e2teau […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-review"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProvence and Loire vineyards in-demand as historic estate finds British buyer - Wine Objectives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wineobjectives.com\/en\/press-review\/provence-and-loire-vineyards-in-demand-as-historic-estate-finds-british-buyer\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Provence and Loire vineyards in-demand as historic estate finds British buyer - Wine Objectives\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Plans outlined by the new owner of Ch\u00e2teau Vignelaure in Provence include planting more vines and building a spa, as the deal\u2019s agent says this region and the Loire Valley are high on vineyard buyers\u2019 French wish lists. 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