Jean-Baptiste Souillard
Overview
Jean-Baptiste Souillard is a high-quality small-scale merchant (negociant) based at Andance in the middle sector of Saint-Joseph. He buys harvest from precise sites, with the principle “one terroir, one wine,” vinifying in batches from 300 to 2,000 bottles. After making wine in Australia, New Zealand, Burgundy, and Bordeaux, plus a Masters at Dijon and working as oenologue for Jean-Luc Colombo, he started his own business in 2014. His father Michel has been a director at the Cave de Saint-Desirat.
Appellations
Key Wines
- Crozes-Hermitage Les Baties red — from Larnage; STGT wine of truth and style, best of the range in 2021 and 2022 (both four-and-a-half-star)
- Saint-Joseph Chateau Morel red — from loess soils at Andance, a half hectare; described as “airborne Burgundian wine whatever the vintage”
- Saint-Joseph Janoune / L’Echirol / Bergeron reds — five Saint-Joseph reds total, a good collection
- Cornas Les Cotes / Saint-Pierre — the duo have improved, showing more depth and character
- Cote-Rotie Coteaux de Bassenon — by some way the better of the two Cote-Roties
- Crozes-Hermitage Le Tout white — from 1930s gobelet-trained Marsanne on stony white clay-loess; much aided by vine age
Style Notes
The style is very tight, almost lean at times, in the New Wave manner. Some wines are extremely pared back, low degree, and lowish ripeness when harvested, in order to supply acidity and freshness. In 2021, there was acetate present in a few of the reds. The four Crozes-Hermitage reds are a good quartet, three from northern sector sites (Les Baties at Larnage, Les Habrards, Tenay at Gervans). The Vin de France range includes Marsanne from near Beziers, and Roussanne and Viognier from loose granite soils in the Southern Ardeche at 400-450 metres.
Producer Profile (JLL / drinkRhone.com)
A high-quality small-scale merchant business based on a range of 20 reds and whites made with infinite care. After winemaking in Australia, New Zealand, Burgundy, and Bordeaux, and a Masters at Dijon, he worked as an oenologue for Jean-Luc Colombo before starting in 2014. His father Michel has been a director at the Cave de Saint-Desirat; in 2019, the family vineyard of 7.5 hectares at Andance was withdrawn from the Cave.
Jean-Baptiste buys harvest from precise sites — one terroir, one wine. Batches run from 300 to 2,000 bottles. There is also a Chatus red from 30-year-old vines in the Southern Ardeche commune of Sanilhac.
A good Saint-Peray called Chalaboud (Jean-Baptiste’s wine with the lowest pH, capable of ageing) was discontinued after 2021 due to lack of supply.
Location: 406 chemin du Creux, 07340 Andance. Export: 1) USA, 2) Scandinavia, 3) Hong Kong.
My Tastings
Sources
sources/articles/JLL/Jean-Baptiste_Souillard.txt