Michel Rolland Sells Control of Bordeaux Wineries to Hong Kong Financier

Renowned winemaking consultant Michel Rolland and his family have signed a deal ceding a majority stake in their iconic Pomerol estate Château le Bon Pasteur as well as Château Rolland Maillet and Château Bertineau Saint Vincent to Goldin Group, a Hong Kong financial and real-estate company run by Pan Sutong.

“Mr. Pan Sutong, a successful entrepreneur and chairman of the group, is passionate about wine, well-connected in the Bordeaux wine circles and ready to make every effort to valorize the wines, the name and to perpetuate the history in accordance with the family tradition,” Dany Rolland, Michel's wife and fellow enologist, told Wine Spectator.

Sutong is well-known to the Rollands. Goldin owns Sloan Estate in Napa Valley, where Michel is the consultant.

Goldin’s Bordeaux acquisition gives the Hong Kong firm a significant stake—for an undisclosed sum—in Le Bon Pasteur’s 16.36 acres in Pomerol, Château Rolland-Maillet’s 8.28 acres in St.-Emilion and Château Bertineau St.-Vincent’s 13.59 acres in Lalande de Pomerol. Under the terms of the agreement, the technical team run by Michel and Dany Rolland remains in place “to cultivate the vineyards and make the wines in the same spirit.”

Michel Rolland grew up with his brother at Rolland-Maillet, which was enlarged over time with the acquisition of additional plots. The three estates have been in the Rolland family since around 1920.