(TDB) - As part of its drive to reduce debt by selling peripheral interests, Diageo has sold its prestigious Saumur house Bouvet Ladubay to the Monmousseau family for an undisclosed sum.

The sale represents a continuation of Diageo’s policy of exiting wine at the same time as unravelling a further strand of Vijay Mallya’s legacy at United Spirits, now controlled by Diageo.

He bought Bouvet Ladubay in 2005 for €15 million (£10.6m) as what many saw as an overpriced consolation prize after losing the battle to takeover Champagne Taittinger from US hotel group Starwood.

Taittinger was taken back into the founding family’s control in what was a precursor to Bouvet Ladubay returning to the Monmousseau family, who originally purchased it in 1932.

Diageo has sold off most of its Australian wine holdings this year to Treasury Wine Estates for £390m. They included Sterling Vineyards, Beaulieu Vinyards and the Blossom Hill brand.

It also disposed of its Argentine wines business to the country’s biggest producer, Grupo Penaflor, which has become Diageo’s spirits distributor in Argentina.

One significant segment of Diageo’s wine interests remains for sale in its drive to exit wine and improve its balance sheet.