Brouilly

🇫🇷 France

AOC

Cru 1938 - The largest Cru, 1,300+ hectares surrounding an extinct volcano with France's grandest wine estate

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Region profile

History

Named for Brulius, a Roman lieutenant who planted the first vines circa 59 BC - archaeological evidence confirms viticulture here over 2,000 years. The Notre-Dame aux Raisins chapel was built 1854-1857 after the catastrophic oidium plague and frosts of the 1850s devastated vineyards; growers began an annual September 8th pilgrimage to protect their vines that continues today. Château de la Chaize, built 1676 for the nephew of Louis XIV's confessor, is France's largest wine estate at 450 hectares with 99 hectares of vines. Its 354-foot underground cellar from 1771 and gardens designed by André Le Nôtre (Versailles' landscaper) underwent a €100 million renovation completed in 2017.

Climate
Encircles Mont Brouilly's extinct volcanic cone (483m); complex terroir gradient: pink granite west, slate center, alluvial sand east; warm microclimate from volcanic thermal mass
Signature wines
Château de la Chaize Brouilly - France's grandest wine estate: 450 hectares, 354-foot 1771 cellar, Le Nôtre gardens, €100M restoration; produces 500,000 bottles of benchmark Brouilly
What sets it apart
Home to Château de la Chaize - the largest and most magnificent wine estate in France; the September 8th pilgrimage to Notre-Dame aux Raisins has protected these vines since 1857

Facts

  • 1,300+ hectares across 6 communes accounting for 20% of all Cru production
  • 8M+ bottles annually making it by far the largest output
  • Notre-Dame aux Raisins chapel (1854-1857) crowns Mont Brouilly
  • annual September pilgrimage began in 1857 to protect vines
  • AOC October 1938

Region profile from the Wine Memories wine-data corpus · verified January 2026