Wildfires tearing across the south of France have edged perilously close to Chateau Miraval, the sprawling Provence winery that actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie once owned together and now fight over in court. The blaze, known as the Correns Fire for the village where the estate sits, sent thick brown smoke rising over the vineyards late last month as firefighters scrambled to keep the flames from reaching the property.
So far, they have succeeded. Crews battling the fire have leaned on helicopters and trucks, drawing water from a private lake on the grounds to beat back the advancing flames. Photographs captured towering plumes of gray smoke drifting just past the estate’s fields, and after dark on Friday, the glow of red and orange flames near Correns lit up the night sky.
Pitt, 62, and Jolie, 51, purchased the 1,200-acre estate in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in 2008 and married there. The threat to the winery arrives at an awkward moment: neither owns it outright anymore, yet both remain locked in a legal war over how Jolie’ half of the property changed hands.
Fires Sweep Across the Region
The Correns Fire is one of many burning across Europe, with blazes also reported in Italy and Spain. Earlier in the week, actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal Clooney, along with their 9-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, were forced to evacuate their home in the same French region. The winery, for now, appears to be faring better than the town where the Clooneys settled.
A representative for Pitt declined to comment.
The Origins of the Dispute
The couple purchased the wine estate in 2008 for an estimated $60 million. In 2014, they held their wedding on the property. Two years later, in 2016, they split, and the winery became tangled in one of Hollywood’s most bitter divorces. They finalized that divorce in 2024.
The feud over the vineyard sharpened in 2021, when Jolie won a judge’s permission to sell her share to the wine division of the Stoli Group, Tenute del Mondo. The vineyard was valued at $164 million at the time of the deal. Pitt filed suit in 2022, alleging that Jolie sold her stake without consulting him and broke an alleged verbal agreement that neither would sell without the other’s consent. He asked for $35 million in damages, claiming the sale harmed the winery’s operations. Jolie later filed a countersuit, accusing him of waging a vindictive campaign against her.
According to court filings, Jolie had planned to sell her half to Pitt directly, but talks collapsed because he demanded she accept a confidentiality clause preventing her from speaking publicly about abuse accusations. She refused, and instead struck a $64 million deal with alcohol magnate Yuri Shefler, the head of the spirits conglomerate Stoli.
A Legal Victory for Pitt
The case has repeatedly forced open the painful history behind the couple’s separation. In her countersuit, Jolie detailed for the first time allegations of abuse by Pitt against her and their children, centering on a 2016 altercation aboard a private plane. She claimed he "grabbed her by the head and shook her,” “choked one of the children” and “struck another in the face.” Five days later, she filed for divorce. Pitt has denied the allegations, and a representative for him said Jolie was rehashing and reimagining an incident from years earlier. In late June, a California judge approved Pitt’s request to depose several people associated with the Stoli Group, whose employees his attorneys say possess crucial details about the transaction. Pitt’s side had tried in 2025 to depose Stoli executive Alexey Oliynik. The bigger blow to Jolie came Wednesday, when a state appeals court ruled Pitt could pursue Shefler directly. A lower-court judge had earlier concluded Shefler was merely a passive investor, but the appeals court reversed that finding, determining he played a vital role in structuring and finalizing the purchase. The court noted he personally guaranteed $39 million of the deal and sent three letters to Jolie during the transaction — one thanking her for accepting his offer and promising a deal despite personal complications, another asking her to postpone an installment payment because of complications with Pitt. Justice Gail Feuer wrote that the letters were "far from inconsequential," showing his direct involvement in ensuring the deal was completed.
The final sale price of Jolie’ stake has never been publicly revealed.
The crisis at Miraval unfolds against a difficult stretch for Pitt personally. His youngest daughter, Vivienne, recently filed to drop his last name, joining other siblings who have distanced themselves from him. For now, firefighters are holding the line around the estate that started it all — the place where the couple wed, and the property they have spent years fighting to control.