In France, Wine Without the Work

(WSJ) - An Irishman is converting former wine estates into luxury properties in Languedoc-Roussillon. The pitch: Homeowners get vineyard views and a share of the bottles—but don't have the headaches of making wine.

It's a second-home buyer's dream: a home in the South of France overlooking fields of lush vineyards, with a cellar full of coveted bottles. Less appealing: actually owning and maintaining a winery.

An Irish developer named Karl O'Hanlon thinks he has the solution. He is one of several developers refurbishing rundown châteaux in southern France as luxury villas with private vineyards. Homeowners get a share of the wine, but aren't required to help make it. Mr. O'Hanlon is finding that many second-home buyers are willing to bypass storied markets like Bordeaux and Provence to buy in a region previously sniffed at by wine aficionados: Languedoc-Roussillon.

"I thought there was a gap in the market" for luxury homes in the region, says Mr. O'Hanlon, 41 years old.

His first foray into château conversion was a 19th-century wine estate called Château Les Carrasses. In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, Mr. O'Hanlon convinced Irish shareholders and French banks to back his purchase of the estate and convert its castle and grounds into 28 luxury homes. Amenities include tennis courts, a swimming pool and an on-site restaurant. The total investment in Les Carrasses was €12 million.