Chexbres (pronounced [ʃɛbʁ] SHEB-r)[3][4] is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron.

Chexbres is a wine-growing village and enjoys a good selection of local vintages.

It also enjoys notable views of Lake Geneva, and therefore is nicknamed "Balcon du Léman" in French.

The municipality of Chexbres was already inhabited in Roman times, and a single wall remains and coins have been found.

It could be derived from the Roman personal names Cabrius, from the Gallic words Caebre (meaning city on a hill) or from Cabus (hemp).

The area around Chexbres was owned from the 6th century by the abbey of Saint Maurice and in 978 came under the Kingdom of Burgundy.

In 1079 King Henry IV gave the village and lands to the bishop of Lausanne.

Chexbres is located at 565 m (1,854 ft) above sea level, 12 km (7.5 mi) east-southeast of the capital of the canton of Lausanne (as the crow flies).

Crêt Bérard at 715 m (2,346 ft) above sea level is the highest point of Chexbres.

To the west, the area extends beyond the valleys of the Forestay on the hill of Le Signal at up to 640 m (2,100 ft) above sea level.

Chexbres includes the hamlet of Le Monte Iller at 455 m (1,493 ft) above sea level on the slope below the village, amid the vineyards and a number of farms.

[7] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, on a cross Or five Roses Gules.

[10] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Chexbres is; 199 children or 9.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 198 teenagers or 9.6% are between 10 and 19.

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[5][15] Chexbres was until the early 20th century, a primarily agricultural village.

Even today, the vineyards in the sunny slopes of the Lavaux cover about 25 hectares and arable and livestock farming in the uplands has a certain role in the employment structure of the population.

The trade of Chexbres is principally with daily consumer goods and to provide for tourists.

Through the construction of numerous single-family homes in the last decades, the village has developed into a residential community.

In the tertiary sector; 92 or 21.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 14 or 3.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 84 or 19.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 1.1% were in the information industry, 6 or 1.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 31 or 7.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 13 or 3.0% were in education and 154 or 35.3% were in health care.

Only a little outside the municipal area is the Puidoux-Chexbres station on the main line from Lausanne to Bern (inaugurated on September 4, 1862).

Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces is located in Chexbres.

It has a neo-Gothic tower, remarkable stained glass by Jean Prahins (1988) and an organ in the French Romanticism style, installed in 1905.

From the 2000 census[update], 550 or 26.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,023 or 50.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years.