'People are asking me about investment in vineyards,' says Toullec, who offers a consultancy service to potential buyers. 'In Bordeaux, they are quite keen to attract Chinese investors. The chamber of commerce has opened a Chinese desk.'
Foreign ownership is not new. Chateau Giscours has Dutch owners, Chateau de Fieuzal is Irish owned, and Chateau Margaux's owner is Greek. Other estates are under American, Belgian and British ownership. Japan's Suntory owns Chateau Lagrange. Taiwanese businessman Peter Kwok has owned Chateau Haut-Brisson since 1997 and, in 2008, Qingdao-based Longhai International acquired Chateau Latour-Laguens. Hong Kong-based American lawyer and businessman Ted Powers owns Chateau Pomeaux.
Getting property at the right price can be a problem for foreign investors. Toullec says he is able to connect would-be buyers with independent professionals they need to help them find and buy the right property. He is also able to handle all the legal paperwork and to help structure the investment.
The solicitor, who is also qualified to practise in France and Hong Kong, knows French property law, and says his commuter arrangements between France and Hong Kong can save prospective chateau owners a lot of time-consuming travel.
'Conveyancing in France is a little bit slower than here, but it would take about six months from agreement to getting the keys,' he says.
'Because with vineyards it's sometimes a parcel [of land] here a parcel there, it can get complicated. Prices of vineyards in the Bordeaux region have been sluggish for the past three years. It's not a very active market. Among all the vineyards of France only about 3 per cent change hands every year. It's quite small, but there is quite a lot of property to be sold.'
Bordeaux has 117,500 hectares under vine, which represents 27 per cent of the French quality vineyard area. There are 8,650 vine growers, about 60 per cent of whom make their own wine, while 40 per cent are co-operative members and 300 are wine merchants who market 70 per cent of production. The wine business accounts for 55,000 jobs in the area.
Toullec says prospective buyers need to consider their reasons for wanting Bordeaux property. For investment or pleasure?
'As a rule of thumb, if it's less than five hectares it's for the fun of it. It's probably a nice property with a pool, quite expensive, but then you'll have something relatively small with no serious production in mind.
'If it is something larger, most typically the people that buy land put it in a consortium and rent it to a vine grower on a long-term lease - perhaps 10 years or 25 years. Then there is another company sometimes that does the marketing, and the owner of the land gets royalties back on the sale of the bottles.'
From next year, it will be easier to repatriate profits from vineyard investments. 'A double tax treaty was signed in October between France and Hong Kong,' Toullec says.
'Before it was very difficult to repatriate dividends from French companies to a country with no reciprocal tax treaty, but now there is one, and there is only a withholding tax of 10 per cent on the profits.'
Although owning a chateau may sound romantic, very few Bordeaux estates actually come ready fitted with a historic manor house. 'In Bordeaux, there are 10,000 'chateaux', but it is not used as an architectural term,' Toullec says. 'Often there is a very small house and some warehouses. Nothing really impressive, but it's very pleasant when the sun goes down on the verandah to be sitting out there with a glass of wine.'
