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Château de la Chaize Winery Guide

Winery Overview

Descended from a long line of nobility dating back several centuries, the current owner, Marquise de Roussy de Sales, has completely transformed the fortunes and reputation of this majestic Château. It remains the Beaujolais region’s most beautiful estate; with a fairytale-like appearance and magical gardens, it is little wonder that the French Ministry of Culture awarded Château de la Chaize the status of “Monuments Historiques” in 1972. It also boasts the region’s longest vaulted cellar, a monument with its original framework and Roman-tiled roof. But today, the property is renowned for its beauty and the quality of its wines, showing a unique minerality and gorgeous sour cherry and black fruit character.

Château de la Chaize has a long and distinguished history from the 17th century. The original estate was founded by a French army captain, François de La Chaize d’Aix, who purchased the property from an aristocratic family in 1667. Sadly, a few years after acquiring the Château, it collapsed, killing his two sons and leaving François without heirs. Nonetheless, the captain did commission a new Château, constructed in 1674, and is the building we know as Château de la Chaize today. However, the magnificent cellar and winery weren’t built until the late 18th century, finally completed in 1810. After Francois’s death, de la Chaize passed to Count de Montaigu, an ambassador of King Louis XV in Venice. Such a fortuitous relationship helped to spread the renown of Beaujolais and the wines of Château de la Chaize, which were held in great esteem throughout Europe. Eventually, the estate came under the Marquise de Roussy de Sales’s control, who has remained the sole owner since 1967.

The Marquise inherited a grand yet dilapidated Château and soon initiated a major restoration program for the buildings and gardens. Much effort – and money – was also put into improving viticulture and the estate’s vineyards’ quality. But the investment has paid off; today, winemakers Antoine Lohier and Franck Manigand consistently produce benchmark Brouilly from over 90 ha of superior vineyards. The regular bottling is always reliably excellent, offering breadth and depth combined with early drinkability. The Vieilles Vignes offers more complexity, refinement, and density, but it is the special cuvee, the Reserve de La Marquise, that we love. Made from old vines planted in an exceptional terroir, the wine is remarkable: fleshy and structured with a fine minerality and depth of flavor. Top vintages will last for over a decade. Indeed, there is never any rush to drink the wines of Château de la Chaize.

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Author

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James lawrence

With a passion for food & drink that verges on the obsessive, wine writer James Lawrence has traveled the world in search of the perfect tipple. To date, nothing has surpassed the 1952 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva, tasted in the cobweb-filled cellars with owner María José. Meanwhile, James has been writing for a wide variety of publications for over 12 years, including Telegraph, Decanter, Harpers, The Drinks Business, and Wine Business International. He lives in South Wales and returns to his former university city, Bilbao, as much as possible.

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