The Estate is a family estate where successive generations have served the land since 1940. Christine Vernay is the third generation of the family to manage it.
Francis creates the Estate in Condrieu and plants his first vines in the locality of Coteau de Vernon.
He launches the now legendary 1st cuvée, the famous “Coteau de Vernon”.
Georges takes over from his father. Invested and committed, he is recognised for having “saved” the Condrieu appellation. He becomes the leader of an entire generation that after him would make this terroir one of the most recognised in the world.
Georges Vernay is globally recognised as having saved the Viognier grape variety, which had been abandoned. He replants his lands and revitalises an entire generation of winegrowers who head to the hillsides.
Georges creates “Les Chaillées de l’Enfer” in reference to the terraces that overlook the Rhône.
In 1996, Christine decides to take over the Estate and embarks on her own hillside adventure. She works long and hard, learns quickly, does her best, is passionate, gets to know her vines and listen to them, establishes her values, shares them and takes an entire team on the journey with her.
In terms of whites, she creates the Terrasses de l’Empire in 1998, but she makes the Estate most famous for its reds, launching in particular its famous Côte-Rôtie cuvées: Maison Rouge which she re-launched and vinified in 1997 and La Blonde du Seigneur, created in 1998. Today, the Estate is internationally renowned for both these wines as well as the Condrieu appellations.
In 2016, Christine celebrated her 20th vintage, which can now be found in the world's best restaurants. The awards rain down, the praise mounts up. She continues her journey, eventually applying for organic certification, continues to manage her Estate in line with the family values; with commitment and humility.
Iconic and making the Estate instantly recognisable, the famous Vernon hillside stands above a property of the same name and its splendid wooded park. The 19th-century building is the work of the Lyon-based architect René Dardel, a nature lover who was passionate about painting.
On the hillside, you can still make out the small vineyard house in which Dardel liked to host artists (when he wasn’t taking refuge there to paint some watercolours). Today, Christine Vernay protects this stone cabin as her place of refuge and a reminder of her values, living at the very centre of the hills, listening to nature, making the best of it.
