Terry Cross.......Belfast to Bordeaux

There are plenty of NI-based business people with properties abroad…..investments and holiday boltholes everywhere from Spain to Florida, the Caribbean and further afield.

The fact that Terry Cross, Chairman of one of our more successful export companies, West Belfast-based Delta Print & Packaging, has one comes as no surprise.

But Terry's overseas base isn't a luxury pad in Puerto Banus or a villa overlooking the Cote D'Azur. Instead, he's the proud owner of the magnificent Chateau de La Ligne right in the middle of France's Bordeaux wine region.

And his place in France is much more than just a place in France. It's also home to Chateau de La Ligne Bordeaux Superieur AOC, acclaimed as one of the best Bordeaux wines in its class.

Terry takes up the story.

"I spent many family holidays in the south west region and over the years visited many Châteaux. The more I learned about the wine making process, the more transfixed I became with the concept, the perceived lifestyle and the whole ambience and magic of Bordeaux and its wine. Way back then I promised myself that one day, if I was fortunate enough to afford one, I would."

Terry's search for a historical Château and vineyard with his partner Adele Kane culminated in purchasing Château de La Ligne, on St. Patrick's Day 2000. This was no leisure pursuit but rather a significant investment in a potentially viable business opportunity. "Château de La Ligne had to be self sufficient as the upkeep of the building and surrounding land is challenging and expensive. To make the project viable, it was imperative from the outset that we generated an income from wine production and other activities such as letting the Château for conferences, seminars and weddings."

When Terry and Adele took over the Château, located in Lignan de Bordeaux, 16 km east-south east of the city itself towards the mediaeval town of St Emilion and on the famous route to Compostella, the stately renaissance Château was structurally sound, requiring only minor modifications. Stamping their own inimitable mark on the property with some finishing touches proved much easier than securing plantation rights for the vineyard via a bureaucratic French system.

"The total area surrounding the Château is 17 hectares of which 11 are planted because there are only 11 hectares in appellation controllée designated land. The quickest and easiest way to secure plantation rights, although not necessarily the cheapest way, is to buy a vineyard within 25 kilometres of your existing property, agree to rip that up and transfer the plantation rights to your own property. So although there hasn't been wine produced in Château de La Ligne since 1956, we had to honour the French process in order to get plantation rights. After much deliberation and dealings with the authorities including the Ministry of Agriculture, Customs and the CIVB, the organisation that specifically looks after wine production in Bordeaux, we obtained the various approvals and permissions and planted in June 2002 and ripped out the other vineyard in 2004" explained Terry.

The earliest written records of Château de La Ligne's wine production dates from 1874 when it was the principle property in the district and reputedly produced the highest quality wines of the area. Terry has left nothing to chance in the revival of the 11 hectare vineyard. He employs two full time and two part time staff in Bordeaux who are responsible for general management, administration and the wine making process.

Also working on site are consultant winemakers to Chateau Cheval Blanc (1er Grand Cru Classé in Saint Emillion), Gilles Pauquet and Stephan Toutoundji, who work closely with Terry in developing the necessary modern wine making facilities and barrel cellar to accommodate future production and to re-establish Château de La Ligne as a gem of the Bordeaux appellation. Two members of staff are employed in Belfast to market, promote and sell the wine.

Commenting on the Château's second vintage, Terry says, "Bottled at source in limited quantities, Château de la Ligne 2003 is a delicate blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, a harmonious wine with a good tannic backbone and red ripe fruits. The discerningly planted red grape varieties of Bordeaux Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, combined with meticulous vineyard management, modern vinification techniques of approximately 12 months barrel ageing in carefully selected French and American oak produced a classic yet smooth red Bordeaux."

Plans for 2006 include the launch of Château de La Ligne's third vintage in March and the introduction of a targeted integrated marketing and promotional campaign.

"At significant expense, we have invested in thermo regulation in the vat room to ensure that the wine is made under the optimum conditions in stainless steel tanks.

We have engaged the best oenologues in Bordeaux and we have a team of very committed people who have one key objective, to produce a wine of exceptional quality. Gradually production will increase, we are producing 2000 cases a year from young vines at the moment, hopefully that will increase next year to almost double and our maximum production should be up to 70,000 bottles subject to CIVB yield control, so sales will be crucial."

To date Terry and the Senior Management team at Delta Print & Packaging have taken full advantage of having a European base to host existing and potential international clients for various business meetings. Terry recognises strong links between Bordeaux and Northern Ireland and is actively promoting sustained relations between the two regions. "Apart from wine, Bordeaux and NI have a lot of common business interests including the aircraft and pharmaceutical industries.

Both the NI Chamber of Commerce and the British Consulate in Bordeaux are keen to host a joint trade mission in the Château in 2006. Northern Ireland businesses have a captive commercial audience in Bordeaux, so I hope Flybe will soon announce a direct flight from Belfast to Bordeaux so that we can capitalise on identifying mutually beneficial business opportunities."

A genial host and fervent fund raiser, Terry has hosted various charity events at the Château and raised substantial amounts of funding for the Integrated Education Fund and donated weekend breaks as auction prizes in aid of the Tsunami appeal and for the Children in Crossfire Charity.

Recent media coverage on RTE television's "Time On Their Hands" programme, which saw Terry and Adele hosting broadcaster and journalist, Derek Davis, paying a return visit to Château de La Ligne to purchase the 2^{nd vintage has bolstered awareness both North and South but Terry recognizes there is much work to be done to further promote the wine and push sales. "Until we reach the desirable position of selling all of the wine at an ideal price, we have to supplement the upkeep of the Château. Therefore our immediate objective is to promote the wine locally and internationally and market Château de La Ligne as the venue of choice in Bordeaux for international conferences, seminars and upmarket weddings."}

^{Château de La Ligne's 2003 Bordeaux Supérieur AOC, can be purchased from a range of outlets across Northern Ireland, for further information contact Château de La Ligne on 028 9062 8626 / 028 9043 0420 or visit www.chateaudelaligne.com <http://www.chateaudelaligne.com>}

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