Jurancon Monplaisir Domaine de Souch 2020

Jurancon Monplaisir Domaine de Souch, biodynamic sweet wine, Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, so light, delightfully fruity and easy drinking, it makes a gorgeous apero as well as a dessert wine.  The story of Madame de Souch is both sad and inspiring. In the 1970s Yvonne and Rene Hegoburu found the ruins of an old house at the top of the hill of Laroin and decided to renovate it in order to retire there.  Later, they moved there together with the ambition of planting a few acres of vineyards in the Jurançon appellation. Tragically René died prematurely very soon after they moved in and before they could realise their dream. Yvonne decided to preserve her husbands memory by continuing the plan to start a winery.  30 years later, her stunning sweet wines grace the tables of almost every Michelin star restaurant in Europe.

Yvonne was something of a pioneer and discovered biodynamics in the 1990s and the domaine was certified in 1994.  Despite being in her 90s, until very recently she had been very much involved in the running of her Jurancon estate.  This diminutive character is now finally taking a back seat.  She lets her children run things but the wines continue to go from strength to strength.

Jurancon Monplaisir is notable for its lightness of touch.  It is very different from the more well known and stickier Sauternes sweet wines from Bordeaux.  The terroir is clay and limestone soil with puddingstone coverage, called ‘Poudingue’ in French. The vineyard is located on a upper reaches of a hilly valley with south exposure facing the Pyrenees Mountains and Pic du Midi d’Ossau.  The wines are late harvest and naturally fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve the freshness and gorgeous exotic fruits.  This is one of our most crowd pleasing wines, it never disappoints and the price point for the quality is exceptional.

The story of Yonne Hegoburu - Domaine De Souch is both sad and inspiring.

In the 1970s Yvonne and Rene Hegoburu found the ruins of an old house at the top of the hill of Laroin.  They decided to renovate it in order to retire there.  Later, they moved there with the ambition of planting a few hectares of vineyards in the Jurançon appellation. Tragically René died prematurely very soon after they moved in and before they could realise their dream. Yvonne decided to preserve her husbands memory by continuing the plan to start a winery and Domaine De Souch was born.  30 years later, her stunning sweet wines grace the tables of almost every Michelin star restaurant in Europe.

The domaine is 7 hectares of south facing slopes with vines of Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng.  The vines are now 35 years old and have been farmed naturally from the start.  This is an amazing place, full of life and vitality and run with as little impact on nature as is possible.

Yvonne was something of a pioneer and discovered biodynamics in the 1990s and Domaine De Souch was certified biodynamic in 1994.  Despite being in her 90s, until very recently she had been very much involved in the running of her Jurancon estate.  This diminutive character is now finally taking a back seat.  She lets her children run things but the wines continue to go from strength to strength.