In the beginning there was the Burgundy region.

The most delicious wine grew on its gentle hills with calcareous soil; the nights were cool and the sun shone by day. God knew it and lived in France.

The ancient Romans knew it too. They introduced vitis vinifera, the mother of all grapes to the land of Gauls and occupied it. Santenayum was born.

Indeed, the march-through of several Barbarian tribes in the 5th century accelerated the demise of the Roman Empire while in turn allowing the occupation of the Burgundy by real, so-called Burgundians, including their Burgundy wines, Burgundian escargots and Burgundian kings. The land was subse-quently occupied by Merovingians, Carolingians and Capetians until they too were finally forced to give in and submit to the French crown.

God continued to live in France.

In the Middle Ages it was friars and nuns, good Christians with unwavering faith and dark red noses who were listening to God’s voice in meditative devotedness. His voice instructed them to press heavenly nectar – the Burgundy wine as the kings, the spiritual princes and Grand Dukes liked it.

Modern viniculture is considered their creation. In other words it is the indirect work of God. The knowledge of the special composition of the soil and the local microclimate which both affect the unlimited diversity of the wines and their different characters is based on their knowledge just as the classification of various terroirs into different Crus and appellations which is still applicable today.

During the 15th century, Château de la Crée was part of the estates and assets that Nicolas Rolin ac-quired as his private property. He was Chancellor under Duc de Bourgogne Philippe le Bon, who referred to himself as the King of the best wines in Christendom. Together with his wife, Guigone de Salins, Rolin was the founder and builder of Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, a world-renowned charitable insti-tution which was a mixture between wine-trading company and hospital. Here, the cultivation of the vineyards owned by the foundation and the annual auction of freshly pressed wine in November helped finance the care of destitute patients admitted to Hôtel-Dieu. In return, the destitute patients were obligated to spend their remaining days praying for the salvation of their benefactors.

As evidenced by facilities such as the longitudinal funnel-shaped stone installed in the floor of the current parlour above the basement containing the wine barrels detected during the renovation indi-cate that wine was produced at Château de la Crée as early as at that time. The funnel-shaped stone was used to direct the pressed must from the fermentation room at ground level to the barrels in the basement.

Château de la Crée was presumably destroyed, pillaged or torn down during the French revolution and rebuilt in the 19th century in the current form with the two turrets on either side of the central part of the building. Only the vaulted cellar dates back to the 15th century and is still used for the storage and ageing of our wines in oak barrels.



➢ Picture with caption:
➢ New cultivation of grapes after the destruction by Phylloxera, engrafted on resistant root-stocks. Château de la Crée, after 1900.


Nicolas and Béatrice Ryhiner acquired Château de la Crée including its park and the associated 1.4 ha vineyard Clos du Château in 2004. The winery was re-launched and enlarged to the currently known Domaine du Château de la Crée. At present, it includes 9 ha of wine-growing land in 7 different villages in the Côte de Beaune region, where 16 different types of wine are produced.

The residential house was completely renovated and reconstructed to meet current requirements. It is the head office and serves as venue for different occasions, including seminars, family reunions, events and banquets. It is possible to rent the Château.