Château Miraval, Correns-Var

Château Miraval is a château and vineyard located in the village of Correns, just north of Brignoles, a village in the Var département in the south of France. The château hit headlines in late May 2008 when it was revealed that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had leased it for three years with an option to buy, after surveying prospective properties by helicopter,^[1] with the intention of having the twins they expected born in France. Pitt and Jolie exercised the buy option and were married in the château's chapel in August 2014.^[2][3][4] In 2017, a new product was released by Château Miraval, an organic extra virgin olive oil. L'Huile d'Olive Miraval is packaged in black stoneware bottles and contains blended extra virgin olive oil produced from olives grown on the Miraval estate and locally sourced Verdale, Pichouline, Tanche, Lucques, Aglandau, Cayon and Arboussane organic olives.^[5]

Château Miraval
General information
Type	Château
Architectural style	Normandy Revival
Location	Correns, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Coordinates	43°28′26″N 6°02′10″E / 43.47389°N 6.03611°E / 43.47389; 6.03611
Completed	1841
Owner	Perrin family, Brad Pitt

History

Miraval estate is located on a site first inhabited in pre-Roman times.^[6][7] The château, in a modest vernacular style, has thirty-five rooms. It is surrounded by gardens with a moat, fountains, ancient aqueducts, a pond and a chapel, and by its vineyard, recently planted olive grove and by the surrounding garrigue and woodlands of evergreen and white oak, and Stone Pine, Aleppo Pine and Maritime Pine. A series of winding stone terraces following the profiles of the slopes are planted with thirteen varieties of olives. The immense wine cellar of Miraval was built in 1850 by Joseph-Louis Lambot, the inventor of reinforced concrete, who owned the nearby domaine of La Celle.

A previous owner, the French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, installed a recording studio (Studio Miraval) in 1977 at the château: Sting recorded there, as did the Cranberries,^[8] and Pink Floyd laid down tracks for The Wall album, released in 1979.^[9][a] In the summer of 1984 Wham! recorded their album Make It Big in the studio.^[13] Its more recent American owner, Tom Bove from Indiana, who bought the domaine in 1993 and modernised its viticulture, which had been producing simple vin de pays, has added a spa, Jacuzzi, twin gyms and an indoor pool.

In 2011, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought the domaine, as well as the wine business in 50/50 partnership with winemaker Marc Perrin. In the aftermath of her divorce from Pitt, in October 2021, Angelina Jolie sold her shares to the wine group Tenute del Mondo. Tenute del Mondo is a subsidiary of Stoli Group, known principally for Stolichnaya Vodka. Stoli group, established in 2013, is responsible for production, management and distribution of the Luxembourg-based, global spirits group, SPI.^[14]

Products

 

Miraval wine.

The château is known for its wines, white wines under the Coteaux Varois appellation and red, white and rosé wine under the Côtes de Provence appellation:^[15] the Guide Hachette des Vins called it one of France's top 500 wine producers.^[16] The domaine consists of 400 hectares (990 acres) of which 30 hectares on the valley floor are devoted to organic vines (French: biologique).^[17][18][19] Correns village is the first 100% BIO.

The Côtes de Provence Rosé Miraval has won plaudits from Wine Spectator magazine.^[20][21]

In January 2020, co-owner and winemaker Marc Perrin confirmed that Miraval was to release a Rosé Champagne (Fleur de Miraval) in collaboration with Champagne grower-producer Rodolphe Péters.^[22][23]

See also

• Miraval Studios

Notes

1. Previously, wine from Château Miraval was released as Pink Floyd.^[10][11][12]

References

1. MediaPlanet; Purepeople.com 29 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Brangelina's château Miraval not for sale". www.thedrinksbusiness.com. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
3. Gibson, Megan (28 August 2014). . Time. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
4. Coyle, Jake (28 August 2014). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
5. "The Brangelina Extra Virgin Olive Oil". Ikon London Magazine. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
6. . miraval-provence.com. December 2013. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
7. "Miraval: Spirit of the Riviera" (PDF). Vineyard Brands. Birmingham, Alabama. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
8. Keaten, Jamey (31 May 2008). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008.
9. Hansen, Kristine (13 December 2021). "Brad Pitt's Latest Design Project Is a Music Studio at Château Miraval: The star is renovating Miraval Studios with French producer Damien Quintard". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
10. Miller, Julie (7 March 2013). . Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
11. Waxman, Olivia B. (20 November 2013). . Time. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
12. Quan, Kristene (8 March 2013). . Time. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
13. Ridgeley, Andrew (2019). Wham! George and Me. ISBN 9780241385838. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
14. Campione, Katie (6 October 2021). "Angelina Jolie Sells Her Stake in $164 Million Wine Label She Shared with Brad Pitt". People. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
15. Katz Frommer, Myrna; Frommer, Harvey. . Frommer Luxury Travel: Travel-Watch. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
16. . Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
17. "VB | Château Miraval". Vineyard Brands. Birmingham, Alabama. 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
18. "Miraval: L'Art du Rosé" (PDF). Vineyard Brands. Birmingham, Alabama. 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
19. "A Family-Owned & Run Winery from Provence" (PDF). Vineyard Brands. Birmingham, Alabama. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
20. "Here's the French Château Where Brad and Angelina Wed". Time. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
21. . Reuters. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022. Transcript: Power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may have conquered Hollywood and done more humanitarian work than most humans but now they've got new jobs as wine makers. Today they released their Rose wine for public consumption, but is it any good? We caught up with Thierry Desseauve - the first wine critic in the world who's had a chance to put the pink wine to the test to see if it hits the spot. SOUNDBITE: Wine critic of Bettane+Desseauve, Thierry Desseauve saying "This one was very fresh, very fruity, very exuberant on the aroma side, but also round, supple and fresh and energetic so for my standard of tasting wine, it was a very good wine. I gave it a 91 point out of a one hundred scale." The wine is produced from their 60 million home, Chateau Miraval, in the wine producing area of Provence in the South of France. SOUNDBITE: Wine critic of Bettane+Desseauve, Thierry Desseauve saying "It was also a good vineyard for years and maybe for more than one century so it was possible to do a good wine, to do a better wine than before because the owners before weren't very focussed on wine producing." So the good news is it's great wine, the bad news is you can't get it. Yes, all 6000 bottles sold out in 5 hours making the millionaire couple 90,000 Euros richer.
22. Zylberberg, Shawn; O'Donnell, Ben (14 January 2020). "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Château Miraval to Premiere Rosé Champagne". Wine Spectator. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
23. . miraval.com. February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

External links

• Official Miraval Estate website