Hervé Souhaut

Hervé Souhaut is from Paris and a biologist. He met the wines of Marcel Lapierre and those of Philippe Pacalet, that was the trigger. So he headed to the Ardèche region, where Beatrice, his wife, owned some vineyards. So he went back to school and he does his apprenticeship with purists Dard and Ribo. At Arlebosc right behind the nice slopes of Saint Joseph, he set up a domain from scratch, in 1993. He then shared his experiences and… worries too with Thierry Allemand , his appellation neighbour. The Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet (Hervé Souhaut) is planted with Gamay from Arlebosc, Syrah from the slopes of Saint-Epine facing those of Hermitage, and finally some white grapes varieties like Viognier and Roussanne. Mainly old vines from 50 to 100 years of age, mainly planted on granitic soils with a high acidity. --- From inclination and as a personal choice, he opted for a natural approach for his vineyard. He was inspired by organic farming theories with a touch of biodynamics and yet, he turned down all certifications thus remaining independent in his reflexion. All harvests are manual, sorted out by hand, with ripe and healthy grapes. From here very long low- temperature maceration starts with complete or partial de-stemming depending on the cuvees. Aging too will be according to the wines. No additives, no filtration, no SO2 except for an early bottling. Finally, wines of a great purity, endowed with minerality especially obvious in the cuvée "Saint Epine". 100 year old Syrah.