At our place, we give birth to and raise the wine with as much love as we give a child. And we have four of them!

Who Are We?

Jean-Philippe and Brigitte SOULIER, owners of Château La Robertie, a 15 hectare vineyard situated in the Bergerac, Côtes de Bergerac and Monbazillac appellations. The vineyard has 7.50 hectares planted with red grapes and 7.50 hectares with white.

In 1999 we moved to this property whose origins go back to 1736. Though poorly run during recent years, the vineyard has two major assets: the soil, and the age of the vines.

Coming from a different “world”, we deliberately chose this occupation, quickly realising that with the energy spent every day of the year, even more than the capital investment, it made sense only to produce top quality wines which are recognised as such, and wines that are typical of us: expressive, with character, and...of course, perfectible.

In this endless quest for quality, we are accompanied by two oenologists whose reputation in the Bergerac region is already made: Jean-Marc DOURNEL and Patricia DELAYRE.

The assessment, 12 years after our first grape harvest? The recognition that we are wine-makers equal to our peers, thanks to our passion and to our relentless work, both rewarded with the 2009 Excellence Prize at the Paris Open Agricultural Show: a prize that distinguishes the producer’s work, and not only one wine, after four gold medals, one silver and two bronze!

We are also sensitive to the criticism of the RVF (Revue du Vin de France) guide, which discovered us in 2005: “Brigitte and Jean-Philippe Soulier have made a model career. They give a perfect picture of a successful appellation wine. Carefully made, the wines in three colours are ripe, expressive and concentrated, delicate, without artifice. The 2005 vintage is a great success.” (Ed. 2009)

But self satisfaction leads nowhere if is not a driving force to continue to move forward! We passed a new stage while respecting each of our personal itinerary. Jean-Philippe took up his former profession, while supporting Brigitte’s goal to make human wines, wines that have heart and a soul, that is to say, wines in which she puts a lot of herself: real passion (not hackneyed), patience, intelligence, high standards, but also a lot of humility.

This is the spirit in which Ségolène Poulain created a logo for us. She succeeded in expressing the essence of our craft: a marvellous alchemy among the soil, the grapes, the sun, the rain and our work. All this in the colour and the gold of the joyous,. festive soul of the wine. We are in the scene – the hand and two pillars linked together by a heart – with discretion, because we know that, as regards "winemakers wine", nature will always have the last word...

Brigitte confirms wanting to give first place to the respect of nature - respect of the soils and the vine - to bequeath to our children a living, benevolent Earth.
AB certified in 2011, she worked in biodynamics since 2009.

 

Text translated by Pays du Grand Bergeracois (professional translator).