canada Can Du

Chinese investors aren’t just buying wineries in Bordeaux.

An industrialist from Inner Mongolia has targeted one in the Thousand Islands region of Eastern Ontario, and he plans to make it the centerpiece of a “green” community that aims to attract a crop of international corporate executives.

Du Zhongyi is negotiating to buy the Eagle Point Winery in Mallorytown, which currently devotes only about 15 of its nearly 600 acres to grape growing and wine production. On the rest of the property, Du envisions luxury houses for white-collar professionals, overnight accommodations, a shopping area, and an 18-hole “signature”-type golf course capable of hosting professional tournaments.

“This is just a start, the catalyst,” the winery’s development manager, Tom Lawler, told the Brockville Recorder & Times earlier this year. “This is an example of ‘If you build it, they will come.’”

Lawler told me that Du’s final development is currently taking shape. It may, he said, include a second golf course.

The newspaper says that Du, who’s based in Wuhai, controls “a diverse portfolio of investments in China, Mongolia, and other international locales.” Said to be among his holdings is China’s third-largest coal producer, and Lawler believes that he may own a piece of a golf course in China.

Du bought Eagle Point from Terry and Marsha Dixon. The Dixons opened the winery in the spring of 2011.

Local government officials have showered praise on Du’s proposal and will likely bend over backwards to ensure that it bears fruit. Chinese investment has been at the top of their wish list for nearly a decade, and they believe a destination-worthy Eagle Point could be the straw that stirs the drink.

The original version of this story appeared in the April 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.