Summary

• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's winery, Château Miraval, is currently co-owned by the Stoli Group since 2021.
• Brad Pitt sued Angelina Jolie when she sold her shares in the winery without consulting him.
• The winery holds sentimental value for both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

After meeting on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had a whirlwind romance that was the talk of Hollywood. But ever since they announced in 2016 that they were splitting up, Pitt and Jolie's divorce proceedings have lasted for years. The former couple has had any public agreements, including over who deserves custody of their six children. Pitt and Jolie even made Us Weekly's list of "the longest celebrity divorces."

When they were still together, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought a winery called Château Miraval. The story of what happened to the winery is as dramatic as their divorce, and there's a lot to know about the status of it today.

Who Owns Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie's Winery Today?

As of 2021, the Stoli Group owns half of Château Miraval in France, the winery that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been part of since 2008. People reported that the couple bought shares in the winery through their companies. At first, Jolie's company Nouvel owned 40% of the winery and Pitt's company Mondo Bongo owned 60%. Things changed in 2013 and they decided that they would each own 50%.

While it might have seemed like it was no big deal that Angelina Jolie sold her shares, Brad Pitt wasn't happy about this at all. People reported that Pitt sued Jolie because, according to him, they agreed to make sure that they were both on the same page before making any decisions like this. People said that according to the lawsuit, Nouvel needed to allow Mondo Bongo "the right of first refusal."

As Page Six reported, Yuri Shefler owns the Stoli Group, and because he is an oligarch from Russia, Pitt wasn't happy about this sale. In July 2023, the publication reported that Pitt was angry because Shefler allegedly poked fun at him and called him “an actor, not a winemaker."

According to Metro.co.uk, Pitt's lawsuit against Jolie said that "Pitt learned of Jolie’s putative sale to Stoli by way of a press release announcing that Stoli was 'thrilled to have a position alongside Brad Pitt as curators” of Miraval rosé.'"

Court documents said:

"Jolie collaborated in secret with Shefler and his associates to pursue and then consummate the purported sale, ensuring that Pitt would be kept in the dark as Stoli and Jolie knowingly violated Pitt’s and Mondo Bongo’s contractual rights and forced a stranger into Pitt’s family home."

In the summer of 2023, things got even more complicated when it came to the winery that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have cared so much about. According to USA Today, Nouvel sued Brad Pitt and filed California court documents. They wanted damages of $350 million. Nouvel objected to Pitt fixing a recording studio and renovating a pool, which the documents said cost millions of dollars. The documents also said Pitt was "building and rebuilding a staircase four times."

Nouvel said, "Pitt has acted like a petulant child, refusing to treat Nouvel as an equal partner in the business." Nouvel also said, "He has frozen Nouvel out of Château Miraval and treats it as his personal fiefdom."

Why Did Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt Buy A Winery?

Celebrities are always investing money in various projects, and it's not a huge surprise that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt wanted to own a winery. It seems that Pitt was particularly interested in making his wine. Jolie and Pitt launched their rose, the Côtes de Provence Rosé Miraval, which has been a success for several years now. People reported that Rosé Miraval was ranked highly and Wine Spectator magazine gave it the number 84 spot out of the 100 best 2013 wines.

In an interview with Wine Spectator, Pitt shared his love of the wine business. He said:

“I’m a farmer now. I love learning about the land and which field is most suitable for which grape, the drama of September and October: Are we picking today? Where are the sugar levels? How is the acidity? Is it going to rain? It’s been a schooling for me. In the off months, I enjoy cleaning the forest and walking the land.”

It seems that the winery became more than just a way to make some extra money for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. According to ABC News, the Château Miraval in France is actually where Jolie and Pitt had their wedding.

Vanity Fair reported that a long time after Jolie and Pitt began their divorce proceedings, Jolie e-mailed Pitt and talked about how much the winery meant to her. Jolie said:

“Even now impossible to write this without crying. Above all, it is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother’s memory. A place . . . where I thought I would grow old . . . But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family.”

According to ABC News, the couple began leasing the winery in 2008 and a few years later, in 2011, they decided to buy it. It sounds like they enjoyed spending time at the winery, and they likely never imagined that they would argue so much because of it.