In 1919 Pierre Geoffray moves to Saint Jean d'Ardières in the Rhône area and decides to become a wine grower. At this time the AOC classification system did not exist and anyone could produce wine that would be called Beaujolais.
In the 1930's, the wine growing areas of the Beaujolais region became sub divided into different classifications ; Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, Brouilly, Morgon and the other "crus". At this point Pierre was still living from his land, he had 3 hectares of vines but it was his dairy cows and crops (wheat and potatoes) that were feeding the family.
In 1950, his son, Maurice takes responsability for the business. With new ideas for the future of the domaine, he replaces other crops to increase the acreage of vines up to 7 hectares with the wine being sold in bulk to wine merchants. In 1974, Maurice and his wife Simone decide to stop all dairy production in favour of producing their wine and of selling it direct to the public.
In 1980 their son Alain, fresh from his college education in all things to do with wine, gives another input into the family business. With his young ideas and his desire to succeed, he makes several changes ; acquisition of more land that include vines in other "Cru" areas (thus allowing the Domaine to offer Brouilly and Morgon) and extensions of the buildings that allow more wine production and storage. As a result today "Domaine Geoffray" now covers 15 Hectares and a signifcant proportion of its wine is sold direct to visiting customers.
