Domaine Gille

 

Region: Bourgogne

 

Place: Comblanchien

The estate, which comprises 9 hectares, has been handed down from father to son for more than 7 generations. It is a family business. Some pieces of the vineyard were the property of Henry Gille born in 1756.

 The Gille family has lived in Comblanchien continually since 1570.  It is the only family from the XVI century still present in this village.

 The estate was passed down from father to son but the size of the property has changed through acquisition, sales, inheritances and marriages.

 The estate as it exists today was built by Vivant Gille (1877 - 1938), grand-father of Pierre, the current owner.   It is characterized by very old vineyards. Some of them are more than 100 years old.  The soil is composed of clay and lime-stone from the Jurassic period.

 The harvest is gathered by hand and the wine-making of the prestigious vineyards is made in renovated old wood vats

 Productivity is low, less than 40 hl per hectare which allows a constant quality to be maintained.

 Over the past three generations a sort of tradition has crept into the winemakers’ family.  Henry Gille (father of Pierre) was a fighter pilot in the French Air Force before taking over the estate from his father; Pierre Gille was an airline pilot with Air France for 30 years before returning to the property; Matthieu Gille, his son, who will continue the family wine tradition, is a private pilot.

                Pierre Gille