Brad Pitt’s New Skincare Line Uses Grapes From Château Miraval, the Contentious Winery He Fought Angelina Jolie For
Brad Pitt may have made the already tense situation between himself and ex-wife Angelina Jolie more complicated when he launched his new skincare line, Le Domaine. The actor’s products are made of grapes from Château Miraval, the French estate and winery at the center of their recent court battle.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt acquired Château Miraval when they were together
Château Miraval is a 1,200-acre estate located in the South of France. The property boasts a vineyard, olive groves, a private lake, moat, and forest. And the lavish villa on the estate features 35 rooms, multiple pools, a dirt bike course, a home theater, and a game room.
Jolie and Pitt initially leased the property in 2008. But they purchased it a few years later for nearly $60 million.
The couple launched a wine business on the property, while the villa served as a vacation home for their family. In 2014, Jolie and Pitt got married in a small ceremony in the property’s historic chapel.
But since their split in 2016, Château Miraval has been in dispute. After Jolie sold her stake in the estate, Pitt filed a lawsuit claiming that they both had agreed not to sell their stakes without each other’s consent.
Through her company, Nouvel, Jolie filed a countersuit that alleges Pitt pushed her out of the business after their split. The filing, as reported by CNN, also suggests that Jolie only sold her stake because Pitt wanted her to remain quiet about the events that led to their divorce.
“Pitt knew that much of Jolie’s wealth and liquidity were tied up in Nouvel and used that fact to try to force Jolie to agree to his unreasonable terms,” Jolie’s countersuit asserts.
Brad Pitt debuts a skincare line that uses grapes from Château Miraval
Amid the ongoing legal drama over Château Miraval, the star launched a beauty business that utilizes grapes from the property’s vineyards. Brad Pitt announced his genderless skincare line, Le Domaine, and it is made from wine remnants and olive oils from Château Miraval’s olive groves.
“The goal is to imitate the organic cycles of nature, its primeval beauty,” Pitt noted on the Le Domaine website. “There is no waste in nature. Anything left over or discarded becomes food for something else. This exemplary circular system is the inspiration for Le Domaine.”
In an interview with Vogue, Pitt detailed how he worked with experts like Professor Pierre-Louis Teissedre and geneticist Professor Nicolas Lévy to create the line. And he revealed how Château Miraval inspired the idea.
“Landing here – at Château Miraval – opened up a lot of ideas that I wouldn’t have normally considered,” Pitt said. “And a big part of it is sustainability, this idea of zero waste is something that is really important to this area and important to me.”
“But listen, when we first got here, I mean, I never thought about having a winery either,” he added. “I just wanted a beautiful base in this area and it happened to have a winery. And it happened to be hemorrhaging tons of money. So we had to go to work.”
Brad Pitt still enjoys spending time in Château Miraval
In his chat with Vogue, Pitt revealed that he isn’t just doing business out of Château Miraval. The actor still stays on the property. And he noted it’s something he still enjoys.
“This past spring was special,” Pitt recalled of his recent stay on the estate. “We had a good five or six weeks out here. The stories you hear about Provence in the spring, why people come here. Well, it’s real.”
“I can’t quite describe it, other than the freshness in the air, the light, the… I don’t know, it’s just a real feeling of peace and harmony and the nights are so soothing,” he added. “In summer you get the symphony of frogs, they lull you to sleep.”
