Château de Belleverne

Chénas is named after chênaies, the dense oak forests which blanketed the Beaujolais region before Philippe V ordered them all to be cut down to make room for vines. Chénas is where Aimé Bataillard, founder of Château de Belleverne, first planted Gamay on quartz rich silex / limestone soils in the outskirts of the village of La Chapelle de Guinchay. Today the domaine, now run by Aimé’s sons Didier and Alain and grandson Michael, has 36ha in four of the ten Beaujolais Cru – Moulin-à-Vent, Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas – as well as Beaujolais Villages in the northern realms of the appellation.