Château de la Rivière

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Château de la Rivière courtyard

Château de la Rivière is a French chateau in the commune of La Rivière and a well-known winery in Fronsac .

history

The Château de la Rivière castle in the Bordeaux wine-growing region has a historical history that goes back to the 8th century. The Château de la Rivière was originally a fortified camp that Charlemagne had built. Archaeological evidence suggests an earlier Roman settlement.

With over 65 hectares of vineyards, it is the largest winery in the Fronsac appellation. The property also includes a number of old vaulted stone quarries that are used as large storage areas for wine barrels. In 1962 the castle was restored. In 1995 the winery was extensively expanded by the owner Jean Leprince . Two thirds of the vineyards in the Château de la Rivière are planted with Merlot grapes and the remaining part is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon , Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot . After Jean Leprince's death in 2002, the property was bought by James Edmond Grégoire , managing director and owner of Grégoire, a leading manufacturer of harvesting machinery.

At the end of 2013, a Chinese group of companies acquired the castle and its 65 hectares of vineyards. The previous owner James Grégoire, owner of a Robinson R44 helicopter and holder of a helicopter license, wanted to show the new owner Lam Kok his new possession on a sightseeing flight after the sale. A photographer from the AFP news agency reported that the 12-year-old son of the Chinese billionaire and a translator had also flown. Lam Kok's wife decided against it at the last minute. When the helicopter did not return after a while, those who remained alerted the police, who then dispatched two helicopters to search for the missing person. The search revealed that the helicopter had crashed into the nearby Dordogne River . There were no survivors.

Trivia

In 2002 an owner of the winery was killed in an airplane accident.

literature

  • Pierre Galet : Cépages et Vignobles de France . 1st edition. Lavoisier Publishing House, Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-7430-0585-8 .
  • Benoît France (ed.): Grand Atlas des Vignobles de France . 1st edition. Solar publishing house, Paris, 2002, ISBN 2-263-03242-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press report solothurnerzeitung.ch
  2. ↑ Chinese billionaire killed in helicopter crash as he tours newly-acquired French vineyard on telegraph.co.uk

Coordinates: 44 ° 56 ′ 49.6 "  N , 0 ° 18 ′ 46.1"  W.