As published on Blog do Amaury Jr./Splash UOL

Nearly ten years after the end of one of the most famous marriages of the 2000s, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie continue to fight a dispute that, ironically, has less to do with love than with wine. The legal battle over Château Miraval, the French estate and winery where the two married in 2014, has now entered what lawyers consider its most decisive phase.

Last week, Brad Pitt secured an important procedural victory by persuading a California court to compel executives from the Stoli group, which purchased Angelina Jolie’s stake in the property in 2021, to testify. Among them is Alexey Oliynik, an executive who had resisted cooperating with the investigation, arguing that he resides in Switzerland. The depositions are expected to take place in London by the end of September.

Pitt’s strategy is relatively straightforward: to prove that Angelina sold her stake in violation of a prior agreement between them, under which neither former spouse could sell their share without first offering the other the right of refusal. Angelina has always denied the existence of any legally binding agreement and maintains that she simply exercised her rights as a co-owner.

Another important hearing is scheduled for July 8. At that hearing, the court will decide whether Yuri Shefler, the billionaire owner of the Stoli group and the ultimate purchaser of Angelina’s stake, must also provide testimony. The situation has become particularly complicated for Jolie’s side after an appellate court found unconvincing Shefler’s claim that he played only a limited role in a transaction worth tens of millions of dollars.

Does this mean Brad Pitt is winning? Not yet. What he has accumulated so far are procedural victories that grant him access to additional documents, witnesses, and information. Angelina, for her part, has also achieved favorable rulings, including maintaining confidentiality over portions of her private communications related to the sale of the property.

The most likely scenario now is an intensified discovery phase over the coming months, followed by the main civil trial, currently expected to take place in 2027. At that trial, the court will have to answer several fundamental questions: Did a binding agreement preventing the sale actually exist? Did Angelina act in bad faith by choosing the buyer she did? Did Brad suffer financial or reputational damages?

Depending on the court’s conclusions, several outcomes remain possible. Brad Pitt could receive financial compensation, gain greater control over the business, or, in the most extreme and unlikely scenario, according to legal experts, attempt to invalidate aspects of Angelina’s sale. If the court determines that no contractual obligation existed, Angelina may finally bring to an end a dispute that has already lasted longer than the marriage itself.

At its core, however, the so-called “Rosé War” was never really about wine. Château Miraval was the place where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie built the public image of the Brangelina family. Today, it has become the final battleground of a relationship whose separation still appears to be unfolding, one bottle at a time, in the courts.