Chateau de la Chaize Fleurie Lieu-dit La Chapelle Des Bois
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n 1670, Jean-Francois de La Chaize dโAix, Seneschal of Lyon, brother of the respectable Jesuit priest Father LaChaize, SJ, confessor of King Louis XIV, purchased the land known as La Douze in Odenas. Between 1674 and 1676, the new chateau was built. The chateau was designed by Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Superintendent-General of the Royal Buildings and by Thomas Blanchet, painter and architect who had designed the City Hall and Palais St Pierre in Lyon. Chateau gardens were entrusted to the Kingโs famous gardener, Andre Le Notre. The estate was completed in 1676 and took the name CHATEAU de LA CHAIZE. It continued to expand between 1677 and 1693, rising to the rank of County (Grafschaft) then Marquisate. In 1735 came the celebration of the marriage between Francoise de La Chaize dโAix and Antoine, Marquis of Montaigu, then King Louis XVโs the Ambassador to Venice. The Marquisโ personal secretary was Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This was the start of nearly 3 centuries of family legacy. During the lifetime of Francoise de La Chaize dโAix and Pierre-Francois, Marquis of Montaigu, the wine-growing estate began to take shape. Grapevines were planted in the very best locations for the production of honest, great wines. The quality of the soils, the slope of the hills and the south-east exposure of nearly every single parcel of vineyard were ideal for establishing the basis for long-term wine growing. The viticultural facilities and in particular the magnificent winery created in 1770 stand in testimony to the fact that, even at that long-ago era, nothing was left to chance. In back of the chateau, a rectangular vineyard parcel slopes up the hillside, surrounded by a protective stone wall, with remarkable exposure to sunlight year-round. Francois de La Chaize dโAix, steward of Lyon, purchased the land known as La Douze at the foot of Mont Brouilly, in southern Beaujolais. He hired Franceโs most esteemed architects at the time to build the chateau and assigned Andre Le Notre, famed gardener to the king, who later developed the gardens of Versailles, to build the picturesque gardens around Chateau de La Chaize. The winery remained with the Chaize family for the next two centuries, preserving one of the largest and most historic properties in the Beaujolais region. Eventually in 2017, the family decided to sell the estate and vineyards to the Gruy family, who immediately commenced an ambitious and unprecedented rehabilitation project at the winery.