Chiroubles AOC

Chiroubles is one of the 10 Beaujolais crus, and INAO describes it as the highest of the 10 recognized crus. Its geographic area is limited to the single commune of Chiroubles, in the north of the Beaujolais vineyard, 60 kilometers north of Lyon between Villefranche-sur-Saône and Mâcon (INAO). Inter Beaujolais lists the 10 crus from north to south as Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly. The appellation was recognized by the decree of 11 September 1936, and its delimited parcel area was approved by INAO's national committee on 11 September 1985. Under the cahier des charges text INAO put to national opposition in November 2022, the AOC is reserved for still red wines, with gamay as the principal grape. Inter Beaujolais gives a surface area of 315 hectares and nearly 80 growers; INAO's cahier records that in 2010 about fifty private cellars and one cooperative cellar farmed 350 hectares for a production of nearly 16,000 hectoliters.

• Single-commune appellation: Chiroubles, in the Rhône department (INAO)
• Sixth of the 10 crus in Inter Beaujolais's north-to-south list
• Still red wine only; principal grape gamay, with aligoté, chardonnay and melon permitted only as interplanted accessory vines, at most 15% per parcel (INAO 2022 text)
• Surface area 315 hectares and nearly 80 growers (Inter Beaujolais); 350 hectares and nearly 16,000 hectoliters in 2010 (INAO)

According to INAO's cahier des charges, the delimited parcels sit on slopes above the Saône plain at altitudes between 260 and 600 meters, which makes Chiroubles the highest vineyard in the Beaujolais region. Inter Beaujolais gives a range of 270 to 600 meters and an altitude figure of 410 meters, and says these are the highest vines in Beaujolais, often on slopes steeper than 30%. Decanter's Natasha Hughes MW (2026) writes that Chiroubles is the highest of the 10 crus and has the region's most vertiginous slopes. The area lies on the eastern flanks of the Monts du Beaujolais, which reach 1,009 meters at Mont Saint-Rigaud, backed by a small ridge that forms a granite cirque open to the southeast (INAO). Inter Beaujolais lists the soils as 100% pink granite, and Decanter calls Chiroubles the only one of the 10 crus composed exclusively of pink granite soils. INAO describes the soils as highly homogeneous, formed from weathered granite bedrock that yields a coarse, sandy arène, with local veins of microgranite and lamprophyre; they are thin, light, acidic, permeable and shallow. The climate is a degraded oceanic climate with continental and southern influences and a mean annual temperature close to 11°C. The Monts du Beaujolais shelter the vines from westerly winds, and their foehn effect dries the air. INAO says the slope position lets the vineyard escape spring frosts and morning fog in most years, and that the foehn effect brings high temperatures at ripening that offset the effects of altitude.

• Delimited parcels between 260 and 600 meters, the highest vineyard in the Beaujolais region (INAO)
• Inter Beaujolais: 270 to 600 meters, altitude figure 410 meters, slopes often over 30%
• Soils: 100% pink granite (Inter Beaujolais); weathered granite arène with microgranite and lamprophyre veins (INAO)
• Degraded oceanic climate with continental and southern influences, mean annual temperature close to 11°C (INAO)

INAO's cahier des charges traces vine growing here to the Middle Ages under the influence of monastic orders, with the Lyon bourgeoisie, enriched by silk and banking, expanding the vineyard from the end of the 15th century. The name Chiroubles appears among vine-growing parishes in the 1697 census requested by Lambert d'Herbigny. In his Topographie de tous les vignobles connus of 1816, Jullien cited the wines of "Cheroubles, qui fournit des vins de l'espèce de ceux de Fleury", as quoted in INAO's cahier. Victor Pulliat assembled a collection of 1,200 grape varieties at his Tempéré estate in Chiroubles, defined a ripening-precocity scale for grape varieties, and in the 1880s led the fight against phylloxera; INAO credits him with developing vine grafting, and his vines were the first grafted in the Rhône department. In 1928 small growers founded a cooperative cellar, where grapes from about sixty members are still vinified. The AOC was recognized in 1936 at the initiative of the Syndicat de défense. Since 1995 the Confrérie des Demoiselles de Chiroubles has promoted the wine, and at the annual Crus du Beaujolais competition, initiated by the commune of Chiroubles, the best wine receives the coupe Victor Pulliat (INAO).

• Vines developed under monastic orders from the Middle Ages; Lyon bourgeoisie expanded the vineyard from the end of the 15th century (INAO)
• Named among vine-growing parishes in the 1697 census requested by Lambert d'Herbigny (INAO)
• Victor Pulliat: 1,200-variety collection at Tempéré, grafting against phylloxera in the 1880s, first grafted vines in the Rhône department (INAO)
• Cooperative cellar founded in 1928; Confrérie des Demoiselles de Chiroubles active since 1995 (INAO)

INAO's cahier says Chiroubles producers adopted a vinification in which traditional fermentation and semi-carbonic maceration coexist, so that the wines gain the tannic structure needed for ageing, and that growers often keep fruit from the best parcels separate and name the most renowned lieux-dits on labels. Inter Beaujolais lists the most-claimed lieux-dits as Javernand, Bel-Air, Les Pontheux, Chatenay, Les Roches, Tempère, Fontenelle, Rochefort, Grille Midi and Les Bonnes. INAO describes the wines as light in colour, a fine ruby red, often with floral notes of violet or iris and fruity notes, generally low in tannin, tender and very fine, balancing fruit and elegance. Inter Beaujolais gives the nose as iris, lily, violet and peony with red fruit on the palate, and Decanter's Natasha Hughes MW calls Chiroubles typically fine-boned and perfumed. Under the 2022 text, vines are planted at a minimum density of 6,000 vines per hectare, the yield is 56 hl/ha with a rendement butoir of 61 hl/ha, grapes must reach at least 180 g/l of sugar and the wines a minimum natural alcohol of 10.5%, and total alcohol after enrichment may not exceed 13%. Wines are aged at least until 15 January after the harvest and may be released to consumers from 1 February. Inter Beaujolais says the Chiroubles harvest takes place a week later than other Beaujolais wines.

• Traditional fermentation and semi-carbonic maceration coexist (INAO)
• Floral notes of violet or iris with fruity notes, generally low in tannin, tender and very fine (INAO)
• Yield 56 hl/ha, rendement butoir 61 hl/ha; minimum natural alcohol 10.5%, total alcohol after enrichment no more than 13% (INAO 2022 text)
• Harvest a week later than other Beaujolais wines (Inter Beaujolais)

Writing in Decanter in July 2026, Natasha Hughes MW reports that Chiroubles lost nearly 15% of its vineyard area over the two years she spent researching her book The Wines of Beaujolais, and that it is already the second smallest of the 10 crus by area. Pauline Passot of Domaine de la Grosse Pierre told her that her vineyards are so steep they cannot be mechanised, and Hughes reports that most growers in Chiroubles told her they count on losing a significant proportion of their crop to hail at least one year in three. She also writes that the freshness derived from elevation and wind is now an advantage in a changing climate.

• Nearly 15% of vineyard area lost over two years (Decanter, 2026)
• Second smallest of the 10 crus by area (Decanter, 2026)
• Hail: growers count on losing a significant share of the crop at least one year in three (Decanter, 2026)

Primary sources (INAO and Inter Beaujolais): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO-CDCChiroubles-CN221130.pdf, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/chiroubles-ou-chiroubles-cru-du-beaujolais-17295, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/chiroubles/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/visit/the-beaujolais-wine-route/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/legal-notice/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/france/the-vanishing-of-chiroubles-is-this-beaujolais-cru-in-danger-of-disappearing/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/secret-beaujolais-expert-travel-guide-wineries-restaurants-570356/. Last verified 2026-09-24