The Love Story of Brangelina and Château de Miraval
Southern France, June 2007. A twin-engine helicopter hovers overhead, surveying the beautiful estates of Provence. On board, along with the pilot and real estate consultants, are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, intent on buying “a European base” for their family, a place where their children “could run free, away from the spotlights of Hollywood”. After a dozen visits, their attention is captured by the Château de Miraval and its immense vineyard nestled in the valley, an hour east of Aix-en-Provence, outside the village of Correns. There, for five generations, an Italian noble family had produced wine, selling the property in 1972 to jazz musician Jacques Loussier who transformed an ancient water tower into a recording studio capable of attracting world stars: the Pink Floyd, to name one, recorded part of their iconic album The Wall at Miraval.
The Purchase of Château de Miraval
In 1992, a new change of hands, with the arrival of American engineer Tom Bove: it is he who, that early summer day, saw the two movie stars land in front of him. “Today there are so many stories about them,” the former owner tells, “but they were really a sweet couple, in love with each other”. And in love with Miraval too, it was a real coup de foudre: “We moved the tables to the garden and had lunch together, it seemed they wanted to buy it right away”. On May 8, 2008, the purchase for 25 million euros: “Angelina’s consultants suggested adding a clause to establish that, if the couple separated, each would have the right to buy the other’s share,” reads the reportage.
The Divorce of Brangelina
To stay up to date on royals, celebrities, shows and all the news from the world, subscribe to our newsletters. Pitt would have refused, saying it was not necessary, but he then said that he and his ex-wife had made a pact to “never sell their respective interests in Miraval without the other’s consent”. An agreement that, according to the Jolie team, “never existed”. This, according to the report, would be the divorce of Brangelina, still not finalized due to what many call “the war of rosé”, the main wine produced in the estate and exported all over the world with partner Perrin. In February 2021, in fact, Brad would have tried to buy Angelina’s 50% for “54.5 million dollars”, thus dissolving the partnership. But after she filed a sealed document on the plane crash, he asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement to prohibit her from “discussing Pitt’s or the family’s personal behavior outside the court”.
