Elong Group will acquire Château Birot in Bordeaux, France on December 19. To promote the Elong brand culture, popularize wine knowledge, and tap into public creativity, Elong has selected five distinctive classic wines from Château Birot and launched a wine label design competition, inviting people from all walks of life to design labels for these five wines. A generous prize pool awaits the winners, with the first prize winner set to win a trip to France.
【Château Birot in France】
Château Birot is located in the Cadillac appellation of the Gironde department in France, 35 kilometers south of Bordeaux, the world-renowned capital of wine. Cadillac is one of the 57 prestigious appellations in Bordeaux. The estate spans 34.23 hectares, including 25 hectares of vineyards, as well as 9.23 hectares of parks and woodlands. Its wines have won awards in the Bordeaux Côtes region, and the château itself dates back to the 17th century.
The history of Château Birot dates back to 1780 when the estate was originally built as a residence for Monsieur DE PAROUTY, a renowned wine exporter in Bordeaux. It also stands as an iconic representation of the area’s premium vineyard hub. The château complex features classic Neo-Classical architecture—a style that emerged during the mid-18th century Neoclassical movement. This style arose as a reaction against the ornate excesses of Rococo and incorporated certain classical revival elements of Late Baroque architecture. Its clean lines are primarily inspired by Ancient Greek architecture and the Palladian style of Italy.
In 1989, Eric and Hélène Fournier-Castéja purchased this beautiful estate. In addition to Château Birot, they also own vineyards in the Saint-Émilion and Sauternes appellations. Both families are well-known wine-producing dynasties in Bordeaux. Mr. Eric Fournier was once the owner of Château Canon, a Premier Grand Cru Classé estate in Saint-Émilion—one of the most prestigious estates in the world. Meanwhile, Madame Hélène Castéja’s family still owns the Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Trottevieille in Saint-Émilion.
【Elong Group】
Elong Group is a tourism industry investment and operations group committed to pursuing leading value. With the hotel business as its core, real estate as a pillar, and supported by auxiliary industries, Elong currently boasts total assets exceeding 20 billion yuan, employs over 22,000 staff, and operates nearly 200 subsidiaries across China. These include locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hainan, Jilin, Guangxi, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Fujian, Tibet, Hubei, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Shanxi, Xinjiang, and Guizhou. The group is ranked among the “China Top 500 Service Enterprises,” “China Top 500 Private Enterprises,” “Second Largest Hotel Group in China by Scale,” and “China Top 100 Real Estate Enterprises.”
Over its 26-year journey of entrepreneurship and development, Elong has established its corporate mission as “Creating Quality in China, Delivering Joyful Living.” Upholding the business philosophy of “Customer Focus, Heartfelt Service, Distinctive Creation, and Brand Building,” Elong adheres to the management philosophy of “System as Foundation, People-Oriented, Rapid Response, and Results-Driven,” and promotes the behavioral principles of “Striving for Excellence, Diligence, Rigor, and Care.” Currently, Elong is the largest hotel group in China by scale (ranking second nationally) and is listed among the world’s top 50 hotel groups. It manages and operates over 160 hotels across 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China as well as Frankfurt, Germany, with a total of nearly 50,000 rooms. In the real estate sector, Elong has been ranked among China’s Top 100 Real Estate Companies for five consecutive years, with its ranking steadily rising. In 2013, Elong Hotels REIT successfully went public in Hong Kong, becoming the world’s first Chinese hotel REIT. In the same year, Elong Group acquired the Golden Tulip Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, marking the international expansion of the Elong hotel brand.
Elong positions its brand around “Creating a Better Life through Humanistic Quality and Genuine Care,” and envisions itself as a “Tourism Industry Investment and Operations Group Continuously Pursuing Leading Value.” Building Elong into an outstanding, sustainable modern enterprise is the shared vision of all Elong employees.