Xavier Rolet - Director, Master Beekeeper

French by birth, much of Xavier’s professional life has been in international finance in the USA and the UK, but the happiest parts of his youth were spent in the countryside. He longed to have the means to make wine and was drawn to purchasing this dilapidated house and vineyard by his deep love of the land: members of his family have been successful wine producers for several generations, producing highly respected wines from the Jura, such as the Rolet Arbois, the Crémant Rolet, and the Michel Laroppe wines from Côtes de Toul.

Nicole Rolet - Principal, Senior Plate-Spinner

Nicole manages most of the activities beyond viticulture and winemaking, and makes the link between Chêne Bleu and the outside world, travelling to exchange ideas and enjoy the wines with others who share her passion. Multilingual and multicultural (she and her family lived between the US, the UK, France, Italy, South America), she enjoys scouting for the best ideas from everywhere and weaving them in with those of the team. She trained at the Wine & Spirits Education Trust and UC Davis. Passionate about the virtues of collaboration rather than competition, she co-founded the Grenache Symposium and Fine Minds for Fine Wines/Areni Global, a think tank dedicated to the future of Fine Wine.

Jean-Louis Gallucci - Winemaker, Cellar Master, Chief Problem-Solver

Jean-Louis’ love of wine was passed on by his family from Italy and the Loire. He studied oenology and viticulture at university, then worked for a number of respected winemakers before taking the helm of Chêne Bleu’s cellar. He enjoys working with the exceptional, world-class oenologists who advise us, such as Philippe Cambie, Zelma Long and Thomas Oui, but in the end, he says he prefers to listen to the wines.

Bénédicte Gallucci - Viticulturist, Mrs. Fix-It

Bénédicte’s thoughtful, attentive, meticulous and committed nature is essential to ensuring high quality in the vineyard, which also requires real physical strength and stamina in all weathers. It gets really cold, windy and snowy here in the winter, and brutally hot in summer. She needs to know each vine as well as her own children and treats them as individuals. It also helps to know how to fix a tractor!