Bordeaux's Château Faugères Sold

Longtime family owners hand off the Right Bank estate to a Swiss entrepreneur

Jo Cooke
Posted: April 7, 2005

Château Faugères, one of the emerging quality estates on Bordeaux's Right Bank, has been sold by owner Corinne Guisez to Swiss luxury-goods entrepreneur Silvio Denz. The sale price was not disclosed, but sources in Bordeaux estimated it at around $15 million.

The 140-acre Faugères estate straddles two appellations in the region, with half its vineyards in St.-Emilion and half in the satellite appellation, Côtes de Castillon. The estate produces three reds: Château Cap de Faugères, which carries the Côtes de Castillon appellation; and Château Faugères and the limited-production Château Péby-Faugères, which are from St.-Emilion. The latter is the estate's top wine, made from a selection from the best vineyard plots. Since its first vintage in 1998, it has often been rated outstanding in Wine Spectator blind tastings, as have recent vintages of Faugères.

Silvio Denz is chairman of a perfume company and also owns a stake in three other wine properties.

The Faugères estate had been in the Guisez family since 1823. Corinne Guisez took over the management with her two daughters, Amandine and Cerise, following the untimely death of her husband, Péby, in 1997. Renowned consulting enologist Michel Rolland has advised the estate on its winemaking since 1992.

Denz, 49, who lives in London, made his fortune in the perfume business and is currently chairman of Swiss-based Interparfums Holding AG, which creates, produces and distributes various brands such as Parfums Grès, Parfums Alain Delon and Jaguar Fragrances.

Prior to the purchase of Faugères, Denz was already active in the wine trade as founder of Ermitage Holding AG, which owns a stake in two Swiss wineries and the Clos d'Agon vineyard in Spain, which is managed by well-known enologist Peter Sisseck.