Ch. Soucherie Anjou Blanc

The Family... The Tijou family has a long history making wine in this part of France. In fact, the family has been passing its traditions on to new generations since 1780. Pierre-Yves Tijou took over Chateau Soucherie from his father in 1968. He runs the estate with his wife, Brigitte, and their two sons. In its past almost all of the wine produced was sold off to a negociant. At the beginning of Pierre-Yves Tijou's tenure as winemaker he began to bottle a portion of the production. Today he estate-bottles the entire harvest.

The Domaine... is located in the Loire Valley near Angers and was purchased from the Marquis de Brissac in 1952. The Domaine is composed of 30 hectares of vineyards, approximately 18.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc, 7 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc; and there are small parcels of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Gamay. Total production at the estate is between 60,000 to 75,000 bottles per year.

Production... Treatments in the vineyards are kept to an absolute minimum as the objective is to produce a wine in as natural a manner as possible. All grapes are harvested manually. The grapes are destemmed and crushed by a modern pneumatic press. Fermentation occurs in stainless steel under temperature control. The whites are usually bottled in June of the year following the harvest. Tijou believes his wines are "vins de garde," wines to be aged, and benefit from cellaring.