It would seem that the brothers behind Hermès who recently bought Fourcas Hosten have abandoned somewhat fraught negotiations with the Pichon Lalande team and Champagne Louis Roederer have announced their ‘alliance’ with May-Eliane de Lencquesaing’s famous second growth Pauillac and all its other properties.
“With this new alliance”, says the company, “Louis Roederer pursues its passion for the Bordeaux region, where it has had a serious presence for just over ten years, since acquiring Château de Pez and Château Haut-Beauséjour in Saint-Estèphe.
“This alliance with Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande provides the Champagne family firm with an exclusive opportunity to reaffirm its conviction in the uniqueness of Bordeaux. With Pichon and its satellite companies, Bernadotte and Glenelly in South Africa, it enriches the collection of great wines that compose the group: Champagne Deutz, Maison Delas Frères, Adriano Ramos Pinto Port, Domaines Ott, without forgetting Roederer Estate and Scharffenberger Cellars in California.”
The word 'alliance' is of course intriguing. According to Roederer they have “signed a protocol which allows them to negotiate together” and have no further comment to make for the time being. We wish them better luck than their predecessors with the acquisition process.