Le Rocher des Violettes

Le Rocher des Violettes

【Creating new worth for Montlouis and the Touraine】

Xavier Weisskopf, a native of Picardy, discovered viticulture while studying for a BTS in crop protection at Auxerre.

He went on to take a BTS in viticulture and oenology at Beaune, and it was during an internship with Claude Maréchal that his passion for making wine took hold.

Four years of training under Louis Barruol at Château de Saint Cosme in Gigondas followed, after which he resolved to make his own way in the world.

At just twenty-five, and with no shortage of ambition, he founded his own estate on the land of Saint-Martin-le-Beau.

In 2005 he took on seven hectares of old-vine Chenin in Montlouis-sur-Loire and hundred-year-old Côt in the Touraine.

Since 2010 his wife Clémence has worked at his side.

The two of them are joined by a team of five or six that grows with the seasons.

Xavier and Clémence relish a challenge, and they have set the following projects in motion:

• Restoring the old vines
• Digging cellars into the tuffeau limestone so the wines can mature in ideal conditions
• Building a four-level winery that lets the wine be moved by gravity alone
• Raising farm buildings and a tasting cellar to make this Touraine farm the beating heart of the domaine

It is this passion and this hard work that are creating new value in their corner of the Loire.