Buying a wine estate is a long process. For this reason, we present the 8 different stages of this process that will commit you for many years.
For more information, you can read our white paper on the subject.
First of all, it is necessary to clearly define your winegrowing project.
In which vineyard do you want to set up? What surface area should be planted? What marketing method? ... These questions are essential because they will have an impact on all the following stages of your project.
Indeed, the price of vineyards differs between vineyards and appellations, which has a direct impact on the budget. Some vineyards offer many properties for purchase, while opportunities are very limited in other vineyards.
The method of marketing you choose will also have an impact on the profitability of your business but also on the amount of labour required. Direct sales require a lot of time, whereas selling the grape juice to a cooperative or a trader will allow you to devote yourself to the work in the vineyard.
This project will be more solid if it is built on concrete experience. Training and experience will give you credibility which you will no doubt need in your future career.
Based on your project, you can define an initial budget. It will not be definitive, but it will enable you to target your research.
The budget will depend on many criteria: your self-financing, the profitability of the chosen production, the necessary investments (both for the purchase and for subsequent investments) and, of course, your income objectives.
This stage will probably require professional assistance. You can turn to an accountant, a banker, the installation advisors at the Chamber of Agriculture, etc.
Initial contacts with sellers will also help you in this process.
With your project and budget defined, you can finally begin an active search. You can then specify your search criteria and prioritise them: with or without a house, purchase or rental of the vineyards, capacity, age and functionality of the winery and other buildings, etc.
It is indeed necessary to know which criteria are fixed and which can be adapted. The perfect wine property is rare and often has one main flaw, its selling price. It may therefore be necessary to arbitrate between your selection criteria.
The search can of course be done on ma-propriete-viticole.fr, whose primary vocation is to enable the installation or resettlement of winegrowers. You can also consult the "départ installation" directory of your department, contact the SAFER or a specialised estate agency.
If possible, avoid making too many visits. Instead, make a strong pre-visit selection and prioritise your visits on these. In my experience, it becomes very difficult to choose a property after having carried out a large number of visits: each estate will have its qualities and its defects, and you risk looking for the property that will have all the qualities without any defects when it probably does not exist.
It will be up to you, once you are settled, to make your estate the ideal place you had in mind.
Finally, when you have found the place that seems to correspond to your project, study it in detail before entering into negotiations. In addition to the mandatory surveys, the seller must provide you with all the information you need. This information is necessary to finalise your budget and to enable you to discuss with the seller. Is it necessary to buy vines from third party owners? Are there any mandatory investments to be made in buildings, equipment or environmental standards?
Note that you will usually have to wait between 4 and 8 months before starting your new wine business.
You have found your future winegrower, you have all the necessary information, the project is compatible with your budget. It's time to enter the discussion phase.
What can you negotiate? If the sale price is central to the negotiation, many other elements can be included in the discussion:
To succeed in your negotiation, you must be patient and empathetic. It is essential to understand your seller's objectives, motivations and possible non-negotiable points. This will help you avoid making a mistake that could put an end to the discussions.
The negotiation phase is very important and it is at this stage that the use of a professional intermediary is undoubtedly the most useful. The knowledge of what is at stake for each person, the experience of negotiations and the necessary distance very often enable estate agents and notaries to finalise transactions that seemed to be badly under way.
Once an agreement has been reached, it must be finalised in a written contract: the compromis de vente (also called promesse de vente or avant-contrat). It is necessary to call on a professional to draw it up. The contract must contain the details of the agreements between the parties (which will officially close the negotiation) and give legal force to the agreement.
The drafting of this contract will take from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the case and the progress of the steps taken by each party (particularly the financing).
It is actually more important than the final deed of purchase because it is this contract that establishes the irrevocable commitment of each party and therefore your commitment to buy.
If you have gone through an estate agent or a notary, you will probably have to provide for the payment of a deposit at this stage.
You will usually need bank financing. Note that there are now many other possibilities through participatory financing or solutions for financing land and vines. We present some of them in the Financing section of our blog.You will therefore need to put together all the finance you need to complete your purchase. Your bank will usually ask you to carry out a provisional economic study before giving a written agreement. This phase can therefore take several weeks.
We advise you to finalise your financing during the negotiation phase and therefore before signing the preliminary sales agreement. An agreement from your bank will be a strong argument in your discussions and will allow you to save precious time for the rest of the process. Don't forget that it is difficult for the seller to make a commitment (and therefore go through with the negotiation) if he has any doubts about the financial feasibility of your project.
When negotiating with a bank, remember to include all the elements that make up the file: interest rates, loan duration, bank guarantees, life insurance, application fees, etc.
It is very rare that the pre-contract does not include any suspensive conditions. These conditions are mainly included in the deed to protect you. You therefore undertake to buy the farm described subject to :
To obtain an authorisation to farm under the Control of Structures (usually 4 months of administrative delay for this procedure)
Purge the SAFER's pre-emption period
Obtaining leases or sales of land from third party owners
To obtain aid for setting up as a young farmer
Obtain a building permit
…
The list of these conditions is not exhaustive and will be negotiated with the seller.
It is therefore only once these conditions have been met that your commitment to purchase will be definitive and you will be able to finalise your purchase.
You are now ready to sign your purchase deeds.
The sale of real estate (house, winery, vineyard, etc.) is subject to a notarial deed. Notary fees are generally between 7 and 8%, of which a little more than 5% is tax payable to the Treasury.
Sales of movable property (equipment, wine stocks, etc.) may either be included in the notary's deeds or be the subject of separate private deeds (i.e. without the intervention of a notary). Deeds of sale of shares in companies may also be drawn up with or without the intervention of a notary.
The signing of these deeds will of course be accompanied by the agreed payments and then the handing over of the keys.
You have reached the end of this acquisition process, which has taken several months. You will undoubtedly still have a certain number of formalities linked to your takeover (particularly with customs) to complete in the first few days and weeks.
Above all, this is the beginning of your wine project which will carry you for many years.
