Ch. Soucherie

Anjou, Loire Valley, France The Chateau Soucherie is an extraordinarily lovely place to visit; the house itself is a unique architectural gem that sits on a rise overlooking the vineyards that snake down towards the Layon River. This is an intensely green area, no matter the season and wonderful for distinctive Chenin Blanc. The verdant slopes of the Layon region seem to remain green year round. It is here, among few other places, that Chenin Blanc can attain majestic heights in both sweet and dry styles. Pierre-Yves Titou was propietaire of Soucherie through the 1980s and, with Neal Rosenthal exported the very traditional wines crafted here to the United States. Soucherie was known for its dry and sweet Coteaux du Layon, Savennieres, local Cabernet Franc and Grolleau. It is notable that this is one of the first Loire Valley domaines to which Americans have been introduced. In the early 2000s, Pierre-Yves sold the domaine to his son and successor, Mathieu in order to allow the family freedom to downsize. The Titous thus acquired the neighboring Chateau l’Eperonniere. Soucherie was sold to Roger Beguinot. Under his direction the buildings and vineyards were renovated, restoring this 36 hectare property to its past glory. Four of these hectares are situated in the prime Chaume vineyard and then two hectares are in Savennières, in a single vineyard known as “Clos des Perrieres.” The sweet wines of Chaume are renowned for their freshness. The vines here are over 70 years old. The “Clos des Perrieres” are situated on a sloping plot with outcrops of shale rock, which bring minerality to the finished wines. The remaining vineyards encircle the chateau and in the Anjou and Coteaux du Layon appellations. Soucherie is surrounded by the villages of Rochefort-sur-Loire, Beaulieu-sur-Layon and Saint Lambert du Lattay. The soils are principally limestone, clay and schist. Chenin Blanc makes up the majority here as well. For Anjou Rouges and Villages, the domaine’s Cabernet Franc is grown on the hillsides. Grolleau brings roundness to the domaine’s roses and is blended with Gamay for one of their other cuvées. Beguinot’s assistant, the maître de chai, is the young Thibaud Boudignon who is leading the charge towards 100% organic viticulture through the principles of “agriculture integrée”. The domaine is divided into a series of single-vineyard sites, several of which are isolated to produce “lieu-dit” denominated wines.