Our History Domaine de Chantegrive

Today le Domaine de Chantegrive contains 15 ha. of vineyards on the municipalities of Gilly, Tartegnin, Mont-sur-Rolle, Perroy, Féchy and Aubonne.
My wife Thérèse and myself, with the help of our excellent employees, manage the domain. We have 2 boys, Julien, born in 1994 and Nicolas, born in 1999.

Domaine de Chantegrive

1524

« Rolaz », the most important family name in Gilly. The name originates from our savoyards neighbours, from Concise nearby Thonon.

The first Rolaz family arrives in Gilly in 1524, where a certain Nicolas Rolaz starts as a solicitor.

1806

In 1806 my great great grandfather was proprietor of our domain
He was a farmer and gathered some plots of vineyard grounds.

So it’s from this date on that the Domaine de Chantegrive became a vineyard

1934

The domain grew over the years. In 1934 my great grandfather Henri Rolaz, proprietor at that time, bought the Château Saint Vincent and the adjacent vineyards.

In this same year he purchased other plots of vineyard on the municipality of Gilly.
Birth of my father Henri.

Naissance de mon père Henri.

1968

In 1968 my grandfather Charles who had become proprietor of the Domaine de Chantegrive and the Domaine Saint Vincent, sold the Saint Vincent Château. The maintenance had become more and more expensive. and he just kept the adjacent vineyards.

This transaction allowed him to build a new cellar at Saint Vincent, where my oncle Guy and my father continued their business till 1977.

1977

It was in 1977 that the décision was taken to seperate the two domains. My oncle Guy became the proprietor of the ‘Domaine de St. Vincent’ and my father took over the ‘Domaine de Chantegrive’.

However, untill 1982 all the stocking continued to be done at the ‘Domaine de St. Vincent’ caves.

1983

In 1983 my father renovated the cellar of Chantegrive to its actual state.
For practical reasons and to improve the production he installed steel tanks which at the same time created a lot of cellar space for stocking.

Till 1988, my oncle and my father continued working together, including the grape harvesting. The pressing process was done at St. Vincent and the process in which the must of a white wine is allowed to settle before racking off the wine, was done and stocked at Chantegrive.

1989

In 1989 my father and myself decided to install a press at Chantegrive. This allowed us to be completely autonomous.
Actually the continous expansion of our domain (by buying other plots and by rent of grounds from my mother’s side.

Herself a daughter of winemakers in Féchy) made the acquisition of equipment essential for more effective production.

1993

Following the accidental death of my father at the age of 58, I took over the ‘Domaine de Chantegrive’.

1997

To welcome our growing amounts of visitors, we’ve fitted out a vault.

2000

We’ve purchased 2 hectares of well exposed vineyards at 150m. from the lake.

2001

Construction of a new wine storage to vinify our red and speciality wines.

2010

On the municipality of Gilly we’ve purchased 2.2 hect. of vineyard land . This plot is ideally situated and its rocky soil is mainly reserved for our red vines.