Le Logis de la Bouchardière a commencé la culture de la vigne en 1850. Serge a développé le domaine dans les années 60-80 et Bruno, qui représente la sixième génération, a succédé à son père en 1991, pour pérenniser le vignoble en alliant des méthodes traditionnelles et plus modernes.
Le domaine de la Haute Olive, situé à Chinon, existe depuis 1913, et nous a rejoint en 2006 pour assurer la continuité du vignoble du côté de Sophie, la femme de Bruno.
En 2020, nous accueillerons la septième génération avec Claire, notre fille et son mari Charles.
L’ensemble des deux vignobles est implanté sur les communes de Cravant les Coteaux, Chinon et Panzoult. Il s’étend actuellement sur 57 ha, réparti pour les 3/4 en coteaux et le 1/4 en plaine. L’âge moyen des vignes est de plus de 40 ans, les plus vieilles dépassent 80 ans.
Domaine de la Haut Olive in Chinon, Touraine - Schatzi Wines
Bruno Sourdais carries an intuitive understanding of his vines and cellar work that cannot be learned at any school, only transmitted from one generation to another. He and his wife, Sophie, bring this intuition to the family’s extraordinary holdings in and around Cravant les Côteaux. Their sensitivity to the varied terroirs in which their old-vine cabernet franc (the oldest planted about 1928) grows finds distinct expression in the wines. The sandy plains along the Vienne are the source for their light, quenching Les Cournuelles, while chalky silex slopes mark Les Clos with subtlety and finesse. On the hills, a single hectare of the legendary walled vineyard Le Chêne Vert, which takes its name from a magnificent oak that crowns the slope, literally stands apart. The vineyard is distinguished by its southwestern exposure, steep grade, and a rare clay limestone known as millarge; the wines by their extraordinary high-toned elegance. Through attentive viticulture and thoughtful cellar work, Bruno and Sophie seek a balance of fruit and acidity, freshness and subtlety, to achieve some of the most seductive, soulful Chinons we know.
Haute Olive
The Sourdais family have been making wine at their original domaine, Bouchardière, in Cravant les Côteaux, since its founding around 1850. Ownership has been passed from father to son over six generations; Bruno has led the domaine since 1991. Domaine de la Haute Olive, established in 1913 and now comprising 17 hectares, belongs to Sophie’s father, Yves Jaillais. Bruno and Sophie have leased the vines and made the wines since 2006.
Bruno Sourdais
“I realized quite young that my vocation was to work in the vineyards and to make wine,” says Bruno. After studies at the local winemaking school, he returned to the domaine, where he, and now Sophie and a small team, work in the vineyards, cellar, and offices. With Bruno, credentials matter far less than the sense that through him comes the expression of generations of winemaking. It is this perspective that allows him to realize his constant aim: “to respect our different vintages, the age of our vines, and the types of our soil.”
Cravant les Côteaux
Cravant les Côteaux, just east of the small city of Chinon, is, as Bruno points out, “a village of 700 inhabitants for 600 hectares of vineyards.” Just within the ambit of Atlantic influence, Cravant les Côteaux’s moderate maritime climate is excellently suited to its cardinal grape: cabernet franc. But at the core of the region’s vinous character is the diversity of its soils. The village takes its name from an old Gallic word for pebbles and the domaine’s holdings encompass sandy, gravelly flood plains of the Vienne, as well as clay silex and the clay limestone millarge. While the vineyards planted on alluvial soils give fresh, quenching wines, clay and silex slopes produce the fine, subtle wines, and the clay and chalk hill of the superb Le Chêne Vert are the source for the most elegant, age-worthy bottles.
Vineyards
Le Chêne Vert is a name well-known to lovers of Chinon, though few realize that this is not, in fact, a monopole of Domaine Charles Joguet. The one other vigneron who shares a single hectare of this extraordinary vineyard is Bruno Sourdais. His parcel is on the south-southwest-facing hillside, on millarge, where the average vine age is 35 years. Les Clos boasts 40- to 45-year-old vines planted on south-facing hillside vineyards on siliceous clay soils covered with various sized flint stones. Les Cornuelles is composed of two parcels, one of 60- to 80-year-old vines, another of centenarians, both on south-facing slopes overlooking the Vienne valley. The soils are of limestone, marl, and sand; the vineyard takes its name from the small white stones (cournuelles)scattered here.
Farming
The vineyards are farmed organically, in keeping with Bruno’s intuitive connection with the land and the vines and his belief that “observation and common sense are of greatest importance.” There is a mix of hand harvesting and mechanized work, depending on the parcel and vintage. The age of the vines combined with Bruno’s techniques of thoughtful canopy management, green harvests, and long hang times ensure low yields and high quality.
In the cellar
“Our strength has been to use the old winemaking methods from our ancestors and take advantage of the best of new technology, depending on the climatic conditions of the year,” says Bruno. “We always keep the wine aging in demi-muid and oak barrels.” Les Clos sees 10 to 12 months of élevage in decade-old foudre. Les Cournuelles is raised for 15 to 18 months in 80% neutral foudre, 20% barrique. Le Chêne Vert spends 10 months in 50% two-year old barrels and 50% new foudre.
Arriving
Tasting in the Cellar
Dinner at L'Océanide (Bib Gourmand Michelin) in Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at L'Instinct Gourmand in Nantes, with Owner/ Chef Sylvain le Bras - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Tour of Old Town Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Iconic Brasserie La Cigale in Nantes - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour, Tasting and Light Lunch at Vignobles Günther Chéreau, Château du Coing, in Saint Fiacre-sur-Maine, with Owner Véronique Günther-Chéreau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Two Domaines under one Roof: Visit at Domaine Gadais Père et Fils and Domaine de la Combe/ Pierre-Henri Gadais in Saint Fiacre-sur-Maine, Muscadet Sévre et Maine, Pays Nantais, with Owner/ Winemaker Christoph Gadais - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant Les Petits Près of Chef Samuel Albert (Top Chef France 2019) in Angers - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Château d’Épiré, AOP Savennières, Anjou, with Owner/ Winemaker Paul Bizard - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Barrel Tasting and Salon Tasting at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennière, Anjou, with Owner/ winemaker Evelyne de Pontbriand - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Domäne Vincendeau in Rochefort-sur-Loire, Anjou, with Owner/ Winemaker Liv Vincendeau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Wine Tasting with a Light Lunch at Domaine de la Soucherie in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, Anjou - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant L’Essentiel, Michelin-listed and Nestled at the Foot of Saumur’s Fairy-tale Castle - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit at the UNESCO-classified L’ Abbey Royale de Fontevraud in Fontevraud - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch in the Courtyard of Saumur's Fairy-tale Castle Château de Saumur - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting, Cellar Tour and Vineyard Tour at Domaine des Roches Neuves in Varrains, Anjou, with Next Generation Owner/ Winemaker Louis Germain and Agathe Germain - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Maison Bouvet-Ladubay in Saumur, with Owner Juliette Monmousseau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Cave M. Plouzeau in Chinon, Touraine, with Owner/ Winemaker Marc Plouzeau his Château de la Bonneliére Wines - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
At Domaine Bouchardière in Cravant les Côteaux, Touraine: Tasting the Wines of Domaine Bouchardière and Domaine de la Haut Olive, Cravant les Coteaux, Chinon and Panzoult, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Le Bistrot du Marchéin Chinon - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard
Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine François Gazin, Le Petit
Chambord, in Cheverney, Touraine, with François Gazin - Loire Valley
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant Brut Maison de
Cuisine in Blois, with Owner/ Chef Adrien Delafoy and Owner/ Chef Thomas
Gaudard - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour by Car and Tasting at Domaine Brazilier in Thoré-la-Rochette, CôteauxVendômois, Touraine, with Owner/ Winemaker Benoît Braziliery - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Le Moulin du Loir in Vendôme - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit of Château Chambord - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Tour of Château Royal de Blois - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Sunday Lunch at Restaurant La Croix Blanche (Bib Gourmand Michelin), with Owner/ Chef Jean-François Beauduin - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit of Château du Clos Lucé and the Leonardo-da-Vinci Park in Amboise - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner, Overnight-stay and Breakfast at Château de Pray in Amboise - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours.
Visit at Denis Meunier in Vernou-sur-Brenne, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit at Domaine des Aubuisières, Bernard Fouquet, in Vouvray, Touraine - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Visit of Château Chenonceau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner and Overnight-stay at Auberge du Bon Laboureur in Chenonceau - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard
Walk, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Pellé in Morogues,
Menetou-Salon, with the Export Manager Pauline Guillot - Loire Valley
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant Fluteau in Morogues - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Extensive Tasting at at Domaine Alphons Mellot in Sancerre,
with Alphons Mellot - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Domaine de Vrillères, SCEA in Sury-en-Vaux,
Sancerre, with Kevin Lauverjat - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Domaine Tinel-Blondelet in Pouilly-sur-Loire, with
Marlène and Annick Tinel - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant/ Affineur Romain Dubois in Chavignol, with Gilles Dubois - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Domaine Henri Bourgeois in Chavignol - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Wine-pairing Dinner at Le Clos du Maréchal with the Wines of Vignobles Berthier, with the Owner/ Winemaker Clément Berthier and the Chef/ Owner Nathanael Fromant - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Last Meal of the Tour: At La Coupole in Paris - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours