Domaine de Souch Jurancon Moelleux 2024 500ml

Winemaker Description

Domaine De Souch. Located at the foot of the Pyrenees, near the Atlantic Ocean, at an altitude of 332 meters above sea level. This is where the pure, crisp wines of Domaine De Souch are produced. Winemaker Yvonne Hegoburu was 60 years old when she decided to start making wine here in 1987. At the time, she was one of the first to work entirely biodynamically in the region. Today, she owns 7 hectares of land; the vineyards face south and are largely planted with Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng.

Yvonne Hegoburu, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 95, was living proof that it is never too late to follow your winemaking dreams. It all started when Yvonne and her husband René purchased 16 hectares of land in the Jurançon region in southwest France. The couple lived together in the small hilltop village of Laroin until 1987, when René unexpectedly passed away. Yvonne recalled how the duo would fervently discuss their winemaking dreams; in her husband’s honor, she decided to pursue viticulture for the first time at the age of 60. Today, Domaine de Souch is comprised of 7 hectares of biodynamically farmed vines, which have been certified since 1994.

Yvonne was taken by biodynamics early on. She believed that farming without herbicides and pesticides is the truest and most honest form of winemaking. The vines are double guyot trained and rooted into flinty clay soils. All fruit is hand-harvested and comes from south-facing vines grown at 1,000+ feet above sea level. The vineyards are mostly dedicated to Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, two of southwest France’s most well-known varieties.

Yvonne herself said it best in the acclaimed documentary, Mondovino: “I planted vines when my husband died. Ever since then, all this love inside me, I give it to the vines. I talk to them. I have an exchange with them. I ask them to drive their roots deep down into the soil to get the best from the land.” Yvonne worked the vines tirelessly until 2014, when she handed over the operation of the domaine to her son Jean-René, who continues to make wine in the style of his mother to this day. We are inspired by the Hegoburu family’s robust work ethic and passion for honest viticulture as the domaine continues into the next generation.

The vineyards have been fully biodynamically certified since 1994. The yields are low, never more than 30 hl per hectare, and the soil consists of heavy "flinty" clay called poudingues. This combination results in intense wines with high acidity and exceptional minerality.