Le Soula

Le Soula

【Biodynamic growers schooled by Gauby】

In the 1990s Roy Richards and Mark Walford were importing Gérard Gauby's Roussillon wines into Britain. Convinced that grapes grown in the cool climate of the Fenouillèdes, in the foothills of the eastern Pyrenees in south-west France, held the potential for wines of real quality, Gérard proposed a partnership to make something of the place.

Together they bought vineyards in the finest parcels and an old house in Saint-Martin-de-Fenouillet, the high village at the centre of the holdings. That house became Soula's first cellar, and from the debut 2001 vintage the wines began to win recognition for their purity, their vitality and their sheer singularity.

By 2008 the Saint-Martin premises could no longer keep pace with the growing project. The cellar and winery moved down the mountainside to the old co-operative cellar at Prugnanes on the D117, which was duly restored. The winemaker Gérald Standley, who had worked in Bordeaux, joined the team, at first sharing responsibility with Gérard Gauby before taking over the running of the domaine.

In 2012 Roy and Mark sold their wine import business to Berry Bros. & Rudd, and Mark took over the management and marketing of Le Soula.

In 2016 Wendy Wilson, with wide experience in the vineyards of the Loire and the United States, succeeded Gérald at the head of the Le Soula team.

The vineyards have been farmed organically since the beginning, and biodynamically since 2008. Le Soula's wines now appear on the lists of many leading restaurants and highly regarded importers in countries all over the world.