Three Hands, One Slope: The Christinat Family of Ollon
On the steep coteaux between Aigle and Ollon in the Chablais Vaudois, at the foot of the Dents du Midi, the Christinat family farms six hectares the way the mountain demands — by hand, in organic culture, and now without a single modern oenological input. Founded by Olivier in 1989 from his peasant grandfather's plots, joined by his son Noé in the cellar and his wife Nathalie in the tasting room, the domaine bottles authentic, vibrant wines with transparency as its golden rule.
The story is, in the domaine's own words, a young one. Olivier Christinat founded the estate in 1989, buying his first vines to complete the small plots inherited from his peasant grandfather on the steep hillsides of Antagnes, east of Ollon. That grandfather gave him the taste for the vine at age eight, when he helped him plant a parcel of Chasselas — a plot still in production to this day. The estate has been built in a family setting ever since.
The next generation arrived with the 2017 harvest: Noé, Olivier's eldest son, joined his father after oenology studies at Changins to take charge of winemaking. In the summer of 2019, Nathalie — Olivier's wife and Noé's mother — completed the trio, taking care of the tasting cellar in the heart of the village of Ollon. Three hands, three roles: the vines, the cellar, the welcome.
The Place — Schist, Gypsum & the Glacier's Moraine
Six hectares spread across the appellations of Aigle, Ollon and Bex in the Chablais Vaudois — and nearly every parcel on such steep slopes that only light mechanisation is possible and constant manual work is unavoidable. The reward for this punishing viticulture is a patchwork of exposures and soils that lets an unusual diversity of grapes ripen, reds included, alongside the traditional Chasselas.
La Barmaz, Aigle
Stony schist slopes above Aigle give the Chasselas La Barmaz its mineral, aromatic character and full richness. The flagship white of the domaine — Chasselas with a spine of stone.
Combaz-Gelin, Ollon
A gypsum subsoil blanketed by the calcareous moraine of the ancient Rhône glacier — a heavier, clay-rich soil that pushes Chasselas, Sauvignon and Gamay to intense fruit. Below it, on vertiginous exposure and dry flysch, the domaine's Syrah has found its marks.
Arzillier, Antagnes
Across the village of Antagnes, gypsum outcrops at the surface on a terroir hosting Chasselas but also Cornalin and Cabernet franc — reds of lovely freshness with an almost floral aromatic frame.
Châlex, Aigle–Ollon
A clay-limestone parcel between the two communes, planted mostly to Merlot on soils akin to Bordeaux's right bank — the ideal ground for the cépage, and a quiet nod across the border.
Vine & Cellar — Organic Since Conviction, Transparent by Rule
Respect for the environment was present at the domaine long before it was fashionable. From 2016, one hectare was farmed organically; from the 2021 vintage the entire domaine entered a two-year conversion, earning the "Bourgeon" label of Bio Suisse for the 2023 vintage — certification of culture without synthetic products. The vines are 100% grassed, and copper treatments are supported by plant preparations produced on the estate itself.
The cellar followed the vineyard's lead. The rental of a hangar in the summer of 2019 freed the family from a neighbour's winemaking help — and that same vintage saw the first cuvées made without oenological inputs or added sulphur, to produce authentic, vibrant wines. From 2022, no industrially selected yeasts and no product of modern oenology has been used at all. What remains is sulphites, in minimal doses, as the only exogenous tool — and only for wines that need it.
Transparency is the golden rule: every ingredient, and therefore every added sulphite, is printed on the label. In spring 2025 the domaine opens a new chapter — its first plantings of disease-resistant hybrid varieties, and the integration of the vine into a wider polyculture system. The pattern the family set in motion in 1989 keeps turning.
The Wines — Chablais Terroirs, Named by Parcel
A range built parcel by parcel: Chasselas on schist and gypsum, reds from Cornalin to Merlot, and a family of no-sulphur cuvées that began with the 2019 vintage. The tradition of the Chablais, remade one steep slope at a time.
La Barmaz
The flagship Chasselas — schist aromatics, mineral and fullChasselas from the stony schist coteaux of Aigle, vinified spontaneously. The purest expression of the domaine's flagship terroir: mineral drive, aromatic breadth, and the quiet depth schiste alone can give the grape.
Babitso
The estate red blend — Cabernet franc & Syrah of the ChablaisCabernet franc (70%) and Syrah (30%), grown on the gypsum and flysch slopes above Ollon. Freshness from Arzillier's floral frame, structure from the vertiginous Syrah parcel — the Chablais' answer to the great French blends.
Christi-Nat'
The playful one — Pinot noir, Gamay à jus noir & ChasselasA light, joyful cuvée blending Pinot noir, dark-juiced Gamay and a touch of Chasselas — the domaine's wink in a bottle, and a favourite of the natural-wine bars that have taken the family to Copenhagen and beyond.
Arzillier & Châlex
The single-parcel reds — Cornalin, Cabernet franc & MerlotOn the gypsum of Arzillier: Cornalin and Cabernet franc of almost floral freshness; on the clay-limestone of Châlex: Merlot in its ideal home. Reds that prove the steep Chablais can ripen far more than Chasselas.
Les Cuvées Nature
The no-sulphur line — born with the 2019 vintageThe first sulphur-free, input-free cuvées arrived with 2019 — beginning with a natural Chasselas that set the direction for the whole range. Since 2022 the entire cellar follows the same discipline: spontaneous fermentation, nothing added, doses declared on the label.
Legacy — From a Grandfather's Plot to a Transparent Cellar
The Christinat legacy begins with a grandfather and a boy. Olivier was eight when he helped his peasant grandfather plant a parcel of Chasselas on the steep hillsides of Antagnes — and that parcel still produces wine today, four decades after the founding purchases of 1989 completed it. The estate is continuity made visible: the same slopes, the same family, one more generation's hands.
The second legacy is evolution without rupture. The domaine did not reject its Chablais identity to go natural — it deepened it: organic conversion completed, Bio Suisse Bourgeon earned for the 2023 vintage, then the cellar stripped of selected yeasts and modern inputs by 2022. The first natural Chasselas of 2019 was not a side project; it was the direction, taken gradually, vintage by vintage, with the sulphur doses printed plainly on the label.
And the legacy now points forward. Spring 2025 brings the first hybrid plantings — disease-resistant varieties that will let the family reduce treatments further — and the vine's integration into a wider polyculture. From a grandfather's Chasselas parcel to a cellar where transparency is the only rule left: the still-young history keeps being written on the same steep slopes.