History
Origins
The story began in 1928 at Davayé, when Joanny Collovray settled in this small village in the south of Burgundy a few kilometres west of Mâcon, farming the land, making goat’s cheeses and growing various crops, including vines. As a simple tenant farmer he made wine on the property and merchants took care of selling it. We find his name mentioned in the specialist press already in 1940, where he was praised for the quality of his work.
He was succeeded by his son Henri in 1956. Working with his father on the farm, Henri maintained the practice of polyculture. At that time it was not wine that represented the principal revenue for the family, but the production of goat’s cheese. Nevertheless, he extended the family’s vine holdings by purchasing a few parcels in the Mâcon-Davayé appellation. His son Christian began working in the vines at the age of 16, and later gave up animal farming to devote himself entirely to vine growing.
The Terrier family had no history of cultivating vines but, as Léon Terrier was the village blacksmith, they had always worked alongside the local winegrowers. Having grown up in this environment, his son Jean-Luc Terrier chose to go to agricultural college, specialising in viticulture, crossing paths along the way with his neighbour and childhood friend, Christian Collovray.
Two families,
a single passion
Christian Collovray and Jean-Luc Terrier had been friends since childhood and shared a love of the vines and of wine. Their bond became even closer when they married two sisters, Brigitte and Florence, also from a family of winegrowers. The four of them dreamed of together creating an estate to make wine from Christian’s vines, and those of his father. A year later, in 1986 the history of the Domaine truly began, when this dream became a reality.
They didn’t have to think very long to find the name of the Domaine. All the vines were grouped around the two Rocks of Vergisson and Solutré, part of the unique geological heritage of the southern Mâconnais, with their vestiges of prehistoric human activity.
From the very beginning each one had their own role to play. Christian tended the vines, Jean-Luc had responsibility for the cellar and for sales. Brigitte and Florence first worked in the vines then looked after bottling before devoting themselves to administrative and commercial matters as the business grew. Today Florence knows each and every one of the Domaine’s customers!
Julien Collovray, Christian and Brigitte’s son, joined the family estate in 2009 following his studies in viticulture, oenology, law and economics, and various experiences in wine estates in the USA and France. He oversees and coordinates work in the vines, manages the administrative aspects and is responsible for the cellar and for bottling.
Three years later his wife Caroline Collovray, also an oenologist with experience in several estates, joined the enterprise as manager of human resources.
And in 2019, Pierre-Alexis Terrier, son of Florence and Jean-Luc, returned to the Domaine after studying in Switzerland, London and New Zealand. He works in the vines and in the cellar, both at Davayé and Antugnac.
Collovray & Terrier,
a family business
Today six members of the Collovray & Terrier families work within the company, with a strong sense of cohesion, and with the support of a close-knit, loyal and dedicated team. A solid foundation, to which other family members contribute their expertise here and there. Some of them are the source of grapes purchased by Collovray & Terrier, ensuring a regularity in quality and cultivation methods.
