When you think of the storied Maison Chanel, wine is perhaps not the first thing that comes to mind. Indeed, the famed fashion house established by its namesake Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is, for most, synonymous with a beau monde Parisian style. However, for more than two decades—and with little of the public attention that usually accompanies anything Chanel-related—the family behind the luxury fashion house has quietly been acquiring winemaking estates, both in France and abroad. And, in many ways, for Chanel’s owners, the similarities between viniculture and haute couture make for an apt pairing.
“Chanel is invested in history, in what we refer to as patri-moine,” Nicolas Audebert, the director of Chanel’s vineyards, points out. A term that connotes heritage or legacy, patrimoine is a word that embodies the house’s…
