Domaine Chappuis

Oak barrels below Le Temps de Vie

Under the stained glass window Le Temps de Vie, Christophe Chappuis works as winemaker at Domaine Chappuis in Rivaz, where oak barrels sit inside the family winegrower’s house near the village bell tower. His station is not a borrowed one. The Chappuis family has cultivated vines in Lavaux since 1335, and Christophe holds the work as the 19th generation, with inheritance treated less as possession than as a daily obligation to land, cellar and village. The house gives the clearest form to that obligation in its own words: “We are committed to preserving and enhancing this heritage in order to pass it on to future generations.” That sentence sits close to the method here. The estate remains small, about 7 hectares, spread across several Lavaux terroirs rather than gathered into a single block. Chappuis farms within a UNESCO-listed landscape of terraces above Lake Geneva, where the slope, the walls and the lake’s reflected light shape the discipline before a grape reaches the cellar. His formal training outside the family house is not published; the lineage that is stated is familial, continuous and rooted in Rivaz.

Chasselas measured by soil

The program turns on Lavaux AOC fruit, led by Chasselas and extended through Viognier, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Gamaret, Merlot, Diolinoir and Syrah. Chappuis works from the typicity of each variety rather than a single house effect. The domaine describes the aim plainly: “At Domaine Chappuis, we seek to respect the typicity and purity of each grape variety. We value the minerality of our Chasselas and exploit the unique characteristics of our soils to create wines that are both balanced and expressive.” The scale matters because it keeps the decisions close to the hands. The vineyards reach across St-Saphorin, Dézaley and Chardonne, each with its own exposure, soil composition and microclimate within Lavaux. Chasselas carries the main argument, its minerality drawn from the limestone-rich terraces and the tempering presence of Lake Geneva. In the cellar, grapes are transformed under the shelter of oak barrels, a traditional frame that suits a house more interested in purity and balance than in overt cellar signature.

The cellar and the village bell

The room keeps the pace of a family cellar rather than a tasting stage. Oak, stone, glass and the nearness of the village bell tower do much of the speaking. The stained glass by Jean Prahin, titled Le Temps de Vie, gives the cellar a fixed point of colour above the barrels, and the conversations around it stay close to wine, sharing and exchange. Outside, Rivaz is not scenery added after the fact; the village sits among the terraces, with Lake Geneva below and the vines climbing the slopes around it. Inside, the quiet suits the work. A glass of Chasselas here belongs to those walls, those terraces and that window.