Domaine Chevallier Bernard

Family-owned Domaine Chevallier Bernard produces excellent wines in the foothills of the Alps. The estate is run today by husband and wife Chantal Chevallier and Jean-Pierre Bernard with, since 2016, the help of their son Antoine. It was Chantal’s parents, Marcell and Francis Chevallier, who in the 1970s switched from mixed farming to concentrating on grape production which they supplied to the local co-op.

Chantal and Jean Pierre met while studying viticulture in Beaune while both were working in Beaujolais, where Jean-Pierre had a small negociant business and Chantal was a vineyard consultant. In 1996, they took over her family’s property in the Savoie. Today the estate is 13 ha situated in the beautiful foothills of the Alps at the foot of Charvaz Mountain. The vineyards are largely mechanised, apart from their prized plot of Marestel in the heart of the Jongieux vineyard. The soils are stony and largely on clay and limestone at between 400 to 500m. They have a modern cellar built in 2004 and further enlarged in 2014. There are five different varieties planted: Jacquère, Altesse (aka Roussette), Chardonnay, Gamay, and Mondeuse, the last two for red wine production. The vineyards are farmed along environmentally friendly principles and they achieved HVE (Haute Valeur Environnmentale) certification in 2016. In 2021, the well-respected Guide Hachette awarded them Wine Grower of the Year.