More than 400 years of family history.
The 1603 sales contract already mentions 19 vineyard plots—about 7 hectares. They are still there.
The château was built in 1559 by Blaise Junod, governor of the Valangin seigneury. It changed hands twice before Pierre Chambrier took possession of it in 1603. The sales contract from that time is specific: it includes 19 “fossuriers de vigne,” equivalent to approximately 7 hectares by today’s standards. This detail is not merely anecdotal—it indicates that wine was already at the heart of the transaction, not merely an accessory to the estate.
The name changes. The vineyard remains.
Chambrier appears on the title pages until 1823. Marriages perpetuated the lineage: Sandoz-Rollin, Pourtalès, Montmollin, Grosjean.
For two centuries, the surname Chambrier appeared on property deeds. It disappeared from the deeds in 1823, but the family line and continuity were preserved through the women, via successive marriages: Sandoz-Rollin, Pourtalès, Montmollin, Grosjean. The roles of the heirs changed with each generation: captains in the service of France, Savoy, or the United Provinces; governors of the Principality of Neuchâtel; and chamberlain to the King of Prussia. One of them was a personal friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. What has remained constant throughout it all is the production and sale of wine.
Four hundred years without changing our mission.
Since 1603, the estate has remained in the same family and has never stopped producing wine. Today, Château d’Auvernier is managed by Henry Aloys Grosjean, a representative of the 15the generation.