Angelina Jolie loses legal bid to dismiss ex-husband Brad Pitt’s claim that she sold a $64 million stake in Miraval vineyard to Russian oligarch without his consent

Brad Pitt has secured the latest victory in the battle for control of the French vineyard he owned with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, in the latest twist in the so-called ‘War of the Rosés’.

The Chateau Miraval estate, which produces an award-winning sparkling rosé, is at the center of a protracted court battle between the pair.

Jolie sought to overturn a preliminary ruling from the LA Supreme Court that accepted her ex-husband’s claim that she sold her share of their beautiful vineyard to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without his consent in 2021.

But in another victory for the Fight Club star, the court rejected allegations that his lawsuit was “frivolous, malicious and part of a problematic pattern.”

It now means Pitt’s legal team has the green light to take the lawsuit to court, in which the A-lister is suing Jolie for breaching an agreement that they would refuse each other first.

DailyMail.com’s court filings show that on March 8, the Hollywood star was given the green light to amend a rejected claim alleging breach of an “implied covenant” of fair dealing and good faith.

Judge Lia Martin rejected Jolie’s lawyers’ attempts to dismiss the lawsuit for breach of implied contract and quasi-contract, in the latest blow to Jolie and Shefler.

Last month the Mail revealed that Stoli had been stripped of a number of shares by a court in Luxembourg, making Pitt the majority shareholder.

The battle for the future of Chateau Miraval has so far been waged in courtrooms in France, Luxembourg and Los Angeles.

Pitt was shocked when his ex-wife sold her half of their beautiful Chateau Miraval estate to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler in 2021 without his consent.

After their bitter divorce in 2016, Jolie sold her stake in the company to Yuri Shefler’s Stoli Group. Pitt claimed she violated an agreement that they would give each other first refusal.

Financial documents seen by DailyMail.com in February showed that the ultimate owner of the shares is a shadowy trust on the island of Jersey, controlled by a company in which Shefler is not a shareholder.

The baffling business arrangements make it impossible to know who is pulling the strings, but friends of Hollywood star Pitt say he is determined to get to the bottom of the matter.

A source close to the actor said: “Brad wants Jersey to start giving answers. He should have the right to know who bought his company.

‘He has put his heart and soul into Chateau Miraval and feels like the rug is being pulled out from under him. He’s not sure who he’s doing business with.’

In an earlier filing, Pitt alleged that Shefler tried to “bully” and “threaten” him with defamation, arguing that the Russian tried to bully him into submission by issuing a press release announcing their “partnership” the day after Jolie’s deal was completed.

Shefler then demanded the pair meet for talks after “personally insisting” that the release “emphasize” they were partners with Pitt – despite the A-Lister only learning of the deal through the announcement.

The filings are part of the Oscar winners’ bid to reverse Angelina Jolie’s $64 million sale of her share of the Chateau Miraval estate to Shefler.

He says the 2021 deal violated Jolie’s previous promise to offer him first refusal if she ever sold.

Shefler is accused of contacting Jolie’s divorce lawyers after reports of a “heated custody dispute” in 2021.

Pitt’s team also says representatives from Stoli – Shefler’s international drinks conglomerate – made an “unsolicited” offer for Miravel following news of the couples’ split.

Shefler insists that the US courts do not have jurisdiction to hear a full trial on this case.

But the momentum in the legal battle appears to be with Pitt, after a court in Luxembourg stripped Shefler of 10 percent of his shares, effectively making Pitt the majority shareholder again.

His legal team secured victory by arguing that the shares were given in 2013 with the understanding that Jolie would not resell them.

Judge Carole Kerschen ruled that it was necessary to end the ‘blocking of decision-making’ and save the company. A merits hearing in about two years is likely to decide that Pitt regains full control of the shares, which were transferred to Jolie’s company for one euro.

A source close to the actor previously said that the ruling leaves Shefler with “virtually no control” over the multibillion-dollar business in Provence.

Pitt and Jolie purchased the 1,300-acre Miraval estate in 2008 as 60-40 partners, with Pitt as the majority shareholder.

Five years later, he donated an extra 10 percent to Jolie’s company Nouvel for one euro, making them equal.

But after their acrimonious split in 2016, the estate found itself at the center of a $350 million divorce battle.

In 2021, Jolie sold Nouvel to a group controlled by Shefler. Pitt’s lawyers claimed she “knew and intended that Shefler and its subsidiaries would attempt to control the company.”