Chaberton Estate Winery & Bacchus Bistro

Ask around about Langley wine and Chaberton is usually the first name you’ll hear. It’s the oldest winery in the Fraser Valley and has the biggest vineyard, roughly 50 to 55 acres on 216 Street. It’s also the one most people have driven past for years without stopping.

How it started

1975: Claude and Inge Violet, who came from France, begin the story the winery now tells as its origin.

Mid-1980s: The vineyard is planted in earnest, with cool-climate grape varieties.

1991: Its first year as a farm-gate winery, making 3,000 cases. For years the place was sold as Domaine de Chaberton, the name older wine-tour write-ups still use.

After 25-plus years: The Violets retire and sell to Anthony Cheng and Eugene Kwan. Today the winery goes by Chaberton Estate Winery.

Today: More than 50,000 cases a year and twenty-odd wines. The winery marks 35 years of making wine in the Fraser Valley.

Who owns it

Chaberton was founded by Claude and Inge Violet, who came from France. After more than 25 years they retired and sold the winery to Anthony Cheng and Eugene Kwan, the current owners according to the winery’s own story page. Winemaker Gary (Gennadi) Zhygailo joined in 2016.

What grows here

The estate grapes are a list of names you won’t find on most wine lists: Bacchus, Siegerrebe, Madeleine Sylvaner, Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner, Ortega and Gamay Noir. Some of the Bacchus vines are more than 35 years old. All of them are cool-climate grapes. The bigger reds, like the Cabernet Sauvignon, are made from fruit grown in the Okanagan and Similkameen.

If you want to taste what Langley soil does, look for the bottles labelled Estate Grown, Fraser Valley. The Siegerrebe and the Dry Bacchus have done well in competition (see below).

A visit

The wine shop and tasting room is the wood building in the photo. A tasting is four 1-oz pours for $10; the fee isn’t waived, but you get 10% off any wine you buy that day. On a nice day you can take a flight of larger pours out to the picnic area (groups of up to 16). Wine sales there stop half an hour before closing or sunset. Groups of six or fewer can just walk in; a private boardroom tasting for 4 to 12 people can be booked.

Bacchus Bistro is the French-style restaurant on the property, looking over the vines. It’s closed Monday and Tuesday, serves lunch Wednesday to Sunday and dinner Thursday to Saturday, and the winery says booking is highly recommended.

From April to October there’s a free public tour at 1 pm, weather permitting. The tours stop from November 1 to March 31.

Awards and recognition

Chaberton lists its medals on its accolades page. Recent highlights:

Year	Award	Wine
2026	Cascadia International Wine Competition, Double Gold	2022 Cabernet Sauvignon (Okanagan)
2026	National Wine Awards of Canada, Gold	2025 Sauvignon Blanc (Okanagan)
2026	All Canadian Wine Championships, Double Gold	2025 Gewürztraminer (Okanagan)
2026	Okanagan Wine Festivals BC Top 50	2025 Estate Grown Dry Bacchus (Fraser Valley)
2026	SavorNW Wine Awards, Gold	2024 Estate Grown Siegerrebe (Fraser Valley)
2026	Decanter World Wine Awards, Silver	2024 Estate Grown Siegerrebe (Fraser Valley)
2025	Great Northwest Wine Platinum Awards, Double Platinum	2024 Estate Grown Siegerrebe (Fraser Valley)
2025	All Canadian Wine Championships, Double Gold	2024 Estate Grown Siegerrebe (Fraser Valley)
2025	National Wine Awards of Canada, Gold	2024 La Fleur de Chaberton (Okanagan)
2024	Cascadia International Wine Competition, Best White Wine	2023 Estate Grown Siegerrebe (Fraser Valley)

That Langley-grown Siegerrebe keeps turning up: three years running, in competitions from Washington State to London.

Not drinking? The bistro is a real restaurant, so a non-drinker can come for lunch while the others taste. In season, the 1 pm vineyard tour is free.

Next door: Chapter Estates Winery, Langley’s newest, is the next property north on 216 Street.

More: Langley wineries, cideries and meadery

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