Château Siaurac

Les Terroirs de Suravenir becomes owners – September 2020

Pierre Rebaud

Château Siaurac changes hands… Arkéa Crédit Mutuel – Les Terroirs de Suravenir

Since September 2020, after several years under the ownership of Artémis Domaines – François Pinault (owner of Château Latour – Pauillac, Château Grillet, Domaine d’Eugénie, etc.), the Arkéa Crédit Mutuel group, via Suravenir and its subsidiary ‘Les Terroirs de Suravenir’, has taken over the reins at Château Siaurac and its little sisters Château Le Prieuré (Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé) and Château Vray Croix de Gay (Pomerol). Déjà engagé avec le magnifique Château Calon-Ségur à Saint-Estèphe et le Château Capbern, c’est une nouvelle ère qui s’ouvre pour le Château Siaurac,  retrouver ses lettres de noblesses, de cette belle, laissée endormie ces dernières années. Already involved with the magnificent Château Calon-Ségur in Saint-Estèphe and Château Capbern, a new era is dawning for Château Siaurac, restoring its noble status after lying dormant in recent years.

Les Terroirs de Suravenir - Depuis septembre 2020, après quelques années entre les mains d'Artémis Domaines - François Pinault ( propriétaire de Château Latour - Pauillac, Château Grillet, Domaine d'Eugénie ... ), c'est le groupe Arkéa Crédit Mutuel via Suravenir et sa filiale "Les Terroirs de Suravenir" qui préside à la destinée de Château Siaurac

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As stated in Fabien Dubois’ article reproduced below in text form (article in French)

Bordeaux: Suravenir (Arkéa group) acquires the Le Prieuré, Vray Croix de Gay and Siaurac châteaux from Artémis (François Pinault’s holding company)

Jean-Pierre Denis, from the Arkéa Crédit Mutuel group, confirms the acquisition by one of its subsidiaries, the insurance company SURAVENIR, of three properties on the right bank.
Already the owner of Château Calon Ségur and Château Capbern in Saint-Estèphe on the left bank, SURVANIR now owns three new properties on the right bank: Château Le Prieuré in Saint-Émilion, Château Vray Croix de Gay in Pomerol and Château Siaurac in Lalande-de-Pomerol.
Château Le Prieuré (6.24 hectares), a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, is located on a magnificent estate surrounding the Fongaban valley on superb limestone terroir. Château Vray Croix de Gay (3.67 hectares) is located on the Pomerol plateau, with one parcel situated between Petrus and Château Lafleur. Finally, Château Siaurac (46 ha) is located in Néac in the Lalande-de-Pomerol appellation and boasts a superb château and magnificent wooded grounds.
These properties previously belonged to Artémis Domaines, François Pinault’s holding company, which owns Château Latour in Pauillac, among other properties.

‘At the end of February, we had the opportunity to examine the file,’ explains Jean-Pierre Denis. ‘Together with Vincent Millet, director of Château Calon Ségur in Saint-Estèphe, we visited the site just before lockdown, and our initial visual impression was confirmed by a technical assessment. Certain plots have real potential for improvement,’ he adds. ‘There is a kind of buzz in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, and we thought it was incredible to find it in such different appellations with synergy at all levels,’ explains Vincent Millet.

‘Our approach is a long-term one,’ confirms Jean-Pierre Denis. ‘We respect history, the terroir and our teams, and we are going to embark on a coherent and ambitious long-term development project.’
While Vincent Millet will take charge of all the properties, the current teams will remain in place, notably Pénélope Godefroy at Château Le Prieuré, who has converted the estate to organic farming.
Jean-Pierre Denis, who has been bitten by the wine bug since acquiring Château Calon Ségur, admits to devoting more and more time to the estates. ‘The key word that sums up our approach is the idea of enhancement. Expressing the potential of the properties of which we are the “custodians”. Without ever forgetting that these assets are not like any other. Wine is a matter of history and terroir, with an artistic, almost cultural dimension.’

‘We are very excited,’ adds Vincent Millet, Manager of Les Terroirs de Suravenir, ‘but also very modest, because we want to understand the terroirs and continue the work undertaken by the teams on site.’

Unlike Calon Ségur, where SURAVENIR owns 95% (the remaining 5% is held by the Moueix family’s Holding Videlot), the three properties on the right bank have been acquired in their entirety by SURAVENIR. The amount has not been disclosed
 

Château Siaurac is an iconic wine estate located on the edge of the famous Pomerol plateau in Néac. Its 46 hectares of contiguous land make it the largest estate in the appellation. The château dates back to the 19th century and is classified as a ‘Historic Monument’. 15 hectares of romantic, undulating grounds with century-old trees, classified as a ‘Remarkable Garden’, an orangery and an 18th-century woodland.

As noted in the 1893 edition of Féret, ‘Château Siaurac is separated from the first growths of Pomerol only by a narrow strip of water called the Barbane’. In 1918, Château Siaurac flew the flag for the neighbouring appellation… Pomerol, it was after the creation of the Lalande de Pomerol appellation in December 1936 that Château Siaurac became an AOC Lalande de Pomerol wine… and since then, the wines produced, Plaisir de Siaurac (2nd wine) and Château Siaurac (Grand Vin) have been distributed all over the world. The main markets are the USA, Canada, England, the United Kingdom, Asia in general, particularly China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, a few African countries, Europe, French restaurants and wine merchants throughout France.