Burgundy Vineyard Prices Set New Records In 2024

Vineyards in Côte d'Or, Burgundy.

Buying a vineyard in Burgundy’s Côte-d’Or department was never more expensive than in 2024, as wine real estate prices there shrugged off an industry malaise that weighed on property values elsewhere in France.

The average cost for a hectare of vines in Côte-d’Or, home to the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune appellations that produce some of the world’s priciest bottles, rose 11% last year, according to French rural property agency Groupe Safer. The price per hectare rose for the 28th year in a row, rising above €1m for the first time.

Burgundy wine real estate remains highly coveted, particularly the limited supply of grand cru and premier cru plots in Côte-d’Or, according to Safer. That contrasts with Bordeaux, where vineyard prices in some of the most prestigious growing areas fell after several years resisting a broader slump in the region.

‘What is certain is that the Côte d’Or market is structurally very narrow, and that prices are rising because these are wine appellations that remain highly sought after and for which there is still a lot of demand,’ said Loïc Jégouzo, in charge of studies at Safer, at a press conference in Paris last Thursday.

Across France, the average price for a hectare of vines with a protected designation of origin fell 1.1% to €176,400, the agency reported. The year-earlier per-hectare value was restated after an adjustment to the growing area, according to Safer.

The number of vineyard transactions fell 1.4% last year, mainly due to fewer deals in the Loire Valley and the Cognac region, though the overall area of vines that changed hands was stable at 16,000ha. The total transaction value slipped 4.8% to €1.1bn, remaining above €1bn for a fourth year, according to Safer.

Among last year’s deals in Burgundy, LVMH in September acquired 1.3ha of vines in Aloxe-Corton in Côte d’Or from the Poisot family for €15.5m, a transaction first reported by local newspaper Le Bien Public. Meanwhile, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai was part of a group that acquired wine property in Gevrey-Chambertin.

The Côte d’Or vineyards cover about 9,500ha, less than a 10th of the Bordeaux area, and the market for vines remains ‘very competitive’, according to Safer.

Some Burgundy winemakers have been struggling to keep their vineyards in the family, as rising prices resulted in punishing inheritance taxes. French lawmakers in February voted to lower the costs of passing on wine property by expanding a tax exemption for land transfers, after lobbying by France’s national winemakers’ confederation.

Average prices for a hectare of Burgundy premier cru white wine property planted with Chardonnay increased 13% to €2.55m, while for premier cru planted with Pinot Noir to produce reds, the price rose 9.5% to €1.04m a hectare.

Meanwhile, prices in Bordeaux fell for a third year, slumping 18% to an average €112,500 per hectare. In addition to the decline for less prestigious vineyards, values for high-end names such as Pauillac and Margaux slipped after several years of stability.

In Pauillac, a hectare of vines sold for €2.5m in 2024, falling 17% from a year earlier, while prices in Margaux declined 7% to €1.4m per hectare.

Price declines are ‘not only affecting Bordeaux and Côtes de Bordeaux appellations, but now encompass the entire vineyard,’’ Jégouzo said. He said southwestern France was already facing a crisis in red wine production, and adverse weather in 2024 ‘added to an already fragile situation’ impacting the cash flow of many growers and causing some to go out of business.

Some vineyards for sale in Bordeaux failed to find buyers altogether, according to Jégouzo.

In Champagne, which still holds the crown as France’s most expensive wine region, the average price for a hectare of vines rose 1.7% to €1.12m. Vineyard values fell in most other regions, including Languedoc-Roussillon and the Rhône and Loire valleys.

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