The Growing Success of the French Vineyard properties
The vineyards properties make dreams come true for the buyers. According to the professionals specialised in the vineyard real estate, there are 4 categories of investors on the market of vineyard lands. On the first position, the wine growers who want to extend their vineyards represent 40% of the buyers. Next are the retailers and catering professionals (20% of the buyers) who run an oenology tourism activity. Then are the oenophiles (20% of the market) who generally purchase small vineyards with a high oenological potential. The last category is composed of corporate managers and the “false retired” businessmen; many of them have sold their company and are in research of a new challenge. They benefit from tax exempts and enjoy the idyllic atmosphere of the countryside.
Owning a vineyard grants numerous advantages. The vineyards represent today one of the safest investments of the moment. With gold and private or professional real estate in particular thanks to a good repositioning of the French wines on the international market. Besides being a safe value, the investment in a vineyard is subject to a cut in land tax and can be easily handed on. It also provides benefits in terms of quality of life, such as living in the heart of vineyards, or producing one’s own wine. However, some difficulties can sometimes appear, as not all vineyards are profitable. Indeed, producing the wine is not the most difficult; the issue can appear at the step of marketing.
The demand in vineyard lands is obvious; among the 800.000 hectares of vineyards in France, 20,000 hectares have changed landlords over the last year. For 80% of the transactions, the prices were between €10,000 and €30,000 per hectare. Nevertheless, the price scale remains very wide as a hectare can reach several million euros when it concerns some prestigious vintages.