American Gaylon Lawrence Buys Grand Cru Bordeaux Wine Estate

Gaylon Lawrence, a Tennessee-based billionaire with US farming and banking interests, has been on a wine-buying spree ever since purchasing his first property just four years ago. After snapping up Napa Valley’s iconic Heitz Cellar in April 2018, he grabbed the historic Haynes vineyard in Napa’s Coombsville area and added the equally historic Burgess Cellars and Stony Hill Vineyard.

Now, Lawrence and Carlton McCoy Jr., managing partner for Lawrence Wine Estates, are taking on Bordeaux. On Oct. 31 they announced the purchase of a majority stake in Château Lascombes, a second growth estate in the Margaux appellation with a picturesque but slightly run-down ivy-covered stone chateau. It produces about 20,000 cases a year of a red blend that includes Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a dash of petit Verdot. For an undisclosed price, they purchased the chateau, about 300 acres of vineyards—and an underperforming reputation they aim to change.