Castel, the biggest and dreariest Bordeaux-based wine company, is buying Patriarche, the biggest and dreariest Burgundy-based wine company. A marriage made in heaven, perhaps?
Castel, owned and run by the Castel family from its headquarters in Blanquefort, was already France's biggest wine and beer producer before this latest acquisition. It owns a host of producers and plants in the Languedoc and the Loire as well as many a petit château in Bordeaux. Its most public face is the Nicolas chain of wine stores and it has long had an active presence in China. Castel recently swept up the remains as...