Le Soula

www.le-soula.com

The spirit of Soula lies with respect for the soil and what fills our glass. The key to our unique character is the terroir, but the commitment and energy of those involved in this enterprise is essential to putting that character into the bottle: Gérard Gauby discovered this unique terroir in the Fenouillèdes, unearthing its potential to make great wine. Richards Walford & Co. bring commercial expertise to the venture, helping develop the image of the wine. Wendy Wilson and her team willingly invest their time and energy on a daily basis to produce excellent wine.

The Fenouillèdes is an ancient route to Spain, situated between Catalonia and the Languedoc. Historically, this region has been attached to the Languedoc. Thus, it has always been a frontier zone, acting like a border between two regions. The region reaches 1300 metres altitude. As you approach the plain, the climate is Mediterranean, and as you approach the Pyrenees, it becomes cooler, typical of a mountainous terrain. Viticulture has been established in the region for a long time, but it was confined to the warmest terroirs and the steepest slopes. The slopes were south-facing, in French known as adret and in Occitan, Soula or Soulane. One of the lieu-dit, where we have our oldest vines, is called Le Soula.

In 2001, Gérard Gauby revealed that he had discovered some vines high up in the Agly valley (he had, in fact, discovered some abandoned vines in the Fenouillèdes). He told Roy Richards and Mark Walford of his discovery, and they decided to commit to the venture. They bought an old building in Saint Martin de Fenouillet in the heart of the vineyards. This was transformed into Soula’s first cellars, and from the first vintage in 2001, the reputation of Soula began to be established. In 2008, it became evident that we had outgrown our facilities in Saint Martin de Fenouillet and, furthermore, the local water supply was no longer able to cope with the summer and harvest-time demand. As a result, the cellars and winery were moved to the old cooperative in Prugnanes. The winery was ecologically renovated (painting with lime, using natural insulation, etc.). In 2014 Wendy joined le Soula as manager in 2016 where she is in full charge of the team, the cellar and our 22 hectares of biodynamic vineyards.

In total our domaine has 22 hectares under vine. The majority of our vines are planted on a subsoil of granite, with a topsoil of decomposed granite. Some vines are planted on subsoil consisting of black schist and here the soil is much heavier in character. On average, the vines were planted in 1977, with our oldest vines dating back to 1919.

Since 2001, we have worked all our vines without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We respect the rhythms of nature, working within the lunar cycle. We allow the phases of the moon to influence when we apply treatments or carry out essential work in the vineyards.

Following biodynamic principles, we allow our vineyards to balance themselves and we plan to use our own, natural compost from our own composting station. We also work with the theory of bioélectronique; meaning we use a lot the information of natural equilibriums of the soil and of the plant : the acid-base equilibrium (pH) and the redox equilibrium (oxydo-reduction). The pH is an common consideration in conventional agriculture, but regrettably the redox is neglected by official research. It gives us good information of the vitality of our vineyards.