Château-Grillet is a wine-growing AOC in the northern Rhône wine region of France, near Vienne, which produces white wine from Viognier grapes. The whole appellation, which is only in size, is owned by a single winery, Château-Grillet. The appellation was officially created in 1936. Château-Grillet AOC is effectively an enclave of the Condrieu appellation, which also produces Viognier-only white wines. These appellations are located just south of Vienne in the northern part of the Rhône valley. The production of white wine in the Rhône region is relatively small compared to the red wines. Condrieu and Château-Grillet are the only appellations in northern Rhône that are exclusively white wine appellations. The situation of an AOC (or other official wine designation) owned by a single estate is a situation known as a monopole. There are several other monopole estates in France including Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, La Romanée, Clos de Tart, and Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. The Neyret-Gachet family acquired the Château-Grillet estate in 1830, and the family retained ownership until the estate was purchased by French billionaire François Pinault in 2011. Today, Isabelle Baratin manages the production and sale of the estate's single wine: Vin Blanc de Château-Grillet. Only 10,000 bottles are produced each year. The estate also produces two Brandies: Fine du Château-Grillet and Marc du Château-Grillet. The former is distilled from the Château-Grillet wine while the latter is a pomace brandy. The vineyards stretch over two communes: Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône and Vérin. The vines are situated in terraces on steep granite cliffs surrounding the estate where the soil is lighter and more fragmented than in the Condrieu AOC. The slopes are shaped in the form of a natural amphitheater with south-southeastern sun exposure. The estate's vines average 40 years of age, and as a result produce very low yields. The slim brown bottles of Château-Grillet are easily recognised and are used by no other French winery. Until 1987, 70 centiliter bottles were used, but 75 cl bottles have been used since. Vineyard Château-Grillet is one of the smallest appellations in France, but the area under vine expanded in the 1970s and 1980s (the era when Rhône wines started to see an increase in demand), from in 1971, to in 1977, in 1982 and in 1991, which has remained the vineyard area until at least 2005. This was achieved by actually planting the full area within the appellation border, and this