The Most Expensive Vineyard in Italy Sold to a Chinese Company

Have you ever wondered how much the most expensive vineyard in Italy costs?

Diego and Nora Molinari, former owners of Cerbaiona, have the answer: 6 million euros!

This is the amount paid by American investor (with a Chinese company) Gary Rieschel to secure 1.6 hectares of land in which the precious roots of a Sangiovese vineyard run deep – a vineyard that yields 8,000 bottles of an absolutely top-quality Brunello, generating revenues of around 600,000 euros.

Does this investment make sense? Well, from an economic standpoint, it certainly doesn't look like a bargain the way it's told!

In addition to the vineyard and the 8,000 bottles sold annually at over 200 euros each, the deal also includes a farmhouse, a woodland, and other vineyards used for Rosso di Montalcino and Cerbaiona IGT.

Over the years there have been other jaw-dropping deals in the wine world: for example, the purchase of Poggio di Sotto, 10 hectares in the Brunello zone, by the family of Ernesto Bertarelli, owner of Alinghi; or the sale, by Countess Noemi Amarone Cinzano, of 52 hectares of vines for around 40 million euros to Brazilian investors.

The winery that was sold was founded in 1976 by Diego Molinari, a former Alitalia pilot, who had made the "classic" interpretation his house style: cement tanks and large wooden barrels, uncompromising and with the favour of the critics.

The buyer, on the other hand, is a wine collector, venture capital expert, Harvard graduate, and Silicon Valley veteran; he now leads Qiming Venture Partners in Shanghai and, after investing in Massimo Ferragamo's wine estate, fell in love with Cerbaiona too and, thanks to "a group of friends," decided to take it over. We hope he manages to keep the poetry of these lands intact.