A sprawling 1,200-acre vineyard in France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region now sits at the center of two simultaneous crises: one legal, one environmental. Chateau Miraval, the estate where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were married and which has since become the subject of bitter litigation, narrowly escaped destruction in late July as wildfires swept through southern France.
Firefighting teams managed to protect the property by deploying helicopters and ground vehicles, drawing water directly from a private lake located on the estate itself. Images showed massive gray smoke plumes hovering above the vineyard fields, and on the night of Friday, July 31, orange and red flames illuminated the sky near the village of Correns, where the winery is situated.
The Correns Fire represents just one of numerous blazes raging across Europe, with additional fires reported throughout Italy and Spain. Days earlier, in late July, actor George Clooney, his wife, Amal Clooney, and their nine-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, evacuated their estate at Brignoles in the same French region.
A Property Born in Romance, Lost to Conflict
Actor Brad Pitt, 62, and actress Angelina Jolie, 51, acquired Chateau Miraval in 2008 for an estimated $60 million. Six years later, in 2014, the couple held their wedding ceremony at the vineyard. Their split came in 2016, triggering what would evolve into one of Hollywood’s most contentious divorces, which reached finalization in 2024.
The winery itself became a flashpoint in 2021, when a judge granted Jolie authorization to transfer her ownership interest to Tenute del Mondo, the wine arm of the Stoli Group. At that point, the vineyard carried a valuation of $164 million. The following year, in 2022, Pitt initiated litigation against Jolie, contending she disposed of her share without his input and violated an alleged oral understanding that neither party would sell without mutual approval. His lawsuit sought $35 million in damages, asserting the transaction damaged winery operations. Jolie subsequently launched her own countersuit, charging him with conducting a vengeful crusade against her.
Court documents reveal that Jolie initially intended to sell her portion directly to Pitt, but negotiations broke down when he insisted on a confidentiality provision that would bar her from discussing publicly abuse allegations. She declined those terms and instead completed a $64 million transaction with Yuri Shefler, the alcohol magnate who leads the Stoli spirits empire.
Abuse Allegations Surface in Legal Filings
The litigation has repeatedly exposed painful details from the couple’s breakup. Within her countersuit, Jolie disclosed for the first time abuse allegations against Pitt involving herself and their children, focusing on a 2016 incident during a private flight. She asserted he “grabbed her by the head and shook her,” “choked one of the children” and “struck another in the face.” Five days after that alleged confrontation, she initiated divorce proceedings. Pitt has rejected these allegations, and a spokesperson for him stated Jolie was reframing events from the past with a fresh narrative.
Court Rulings Favor Pitt
In late June, a California judge granted Pitt’s motion to depose multiple individuals connected to the Stoli Group, whose staff his legal team believes hold critical information about the sale. Pitt’s attorneys had attempted in 2025 to depose Stoli executive Alexey Oliynik.
The more significant setback for Jolie arrived when a state appeals court determined Pitt could pursue legal action against Shefler himself. A trial court judge had previously found Shefler functioned only as a passive investor, but appellate judges overturned that conclusion, ruling he exercised a central role in arranging and completing the acquisition. The court observed he personally backed $39 million of the purchase price and dispatched three letters to Jolie throughout the negotiations — one expressing gratitude for her acceptance of his proposal and pledging to finalize the deal despite personal obstacles, another requesting she defer an installment payment due to complications involving Pitt. Justice Gail Feuer characterized the correspondence as “far from inconsequential,” demonstrating his hands-on participation in guaranteeing the transaction closed.
Court filings put the price for Jolie’s stake at $64 million, with $25 million due at closing.
The emergency at Miraval arrives during a challenging period for Pitt on the personal front. His youngest daughter, Vivienne, 18, petitioned on July 21 to remove his surname, following other siblings who have distanced themselves from him. A hearing on her petition is set for November 2, while her siblings Maddox and Zahara are due in court on their own name-change petitions on September 14 and September 28.
By Sunday, August 2, the flare-up had been brought under control after burning about 1,000 hectares in a matter of hours, part of the wider Gros Bessillon fire that has scorched roughly 4,100 hectares since it started on July 21. Evacuated residents were allowed to return home by Monday, August 3. The estate where this entire saga began was spared — the location of the couple’s nuptials and the asset over which they have battled in court for years. Neither actor currently holds complete ownership, yet the vineyard remains central to their ongoing dispute even as flames threatened to reduce it to ash.
