LE ROCHER DES VIOLETTES
Located in Touraine,
between the banks of the Cher and the Loire on clay-limestone soils.
In the heart of the Loire Castles in the town of St-Martin-Le-Beau, the estate is spread over 17 hectares.
Certified in Organic Agriculture .
The soil is tilled manually and the grapes are picked by hand.
The estate's wines are aged in troglodyte cellars carved out of local stone: tufa.
The constant temperature is between 13 ° and 14 ° which is favourable to the aging of the wines and allows the thermal self-regulation of the barrels during the alcoholic fermentation.
The grapes from each of the plots are pressed and vinified separately.
The wines are aged in Allier oak barrels or in stainless steel vats for 6 to 24 months depending on the vintage.
They are then bottled and labelled in the cellar.
Xavier et Clémence Weisskopf
Originally from Picardy, Xavier discovered the vine during a BTS Protection des Cultures in Auxerre.
He undertook a BTS ( polytechnical college) Viticulture and Oenology in Beaune and completed his internships with Claude Maréchal,
he discovered wine-making and thus his passion for wine was born.
He trained with Louis Barruol for 4 years at Château Saint Cosme (Gigondas) and then decided to venture into the business himself.
At the age of 25, with a burning ambition, he created his estate on the lands of St Martin le Beau.
In 2005, he took over 7ha of old vines from Chenin in Montlouis sur Loire AOC and from the centuries old Côt in Touraine AOC.
Since 2010, his wife Clémence has been accompanying and supporting him in the administrative and commercial tasks.
This duo is accompanied by a team of 2-3 people which grows according to the seasons.
Xavier and Clémence like challenges, projects pile up:
restore old vines to their original condition,
dig a cellar in the tuffeau so that the wines rise in the best conditions,
build a cellar on 4 levels to work the wines in gravity, set up an agricultural building and a tasting cellar around this Touraine farm which is now their domain.