Chateau Soutard dates all the way back to 1513. In those days, the estate was used as a farm and mill. This was well before Soutard became known as a Bordeaux wine producer.  Soutard began earning fame as a St.Emilion vineyard in the middle of the 18th century.  It was during those early days that Soutard first began practicing the novel approach of planting vineyards in rows. While it’s natural for us today, 300 years ago, it was less common in the Right Bank .

 

During the 20th century, Chateau Soutard remained the property of the same family, the de Bogeron’s. In fact, the de Bogeron family managed Chateau Soutard from 1890 until 2006. In 2006, Chateau Soutard went from being a family owned estate, to part of a large, corporate empire when it was purchased by La Mondiale, the French insurance company. La Mondiale was already well-versed in the Bordeaux wine trade at the time of the transaction, as they already owned Château Larmande and Château Grand Faurie. The new owners quickly began bringing the estate up to date with a massive construction project. Chateau Soutard is managed by Claire Thomas Chenard with the help of their consultant Michel Rolland .

 

The new, larger, 23 hectare St. Emilion vineyard of Chateau Soutard was just increased in size following the results of the 2012 St. Emilion classification. The increase in vines came from the addition of land from Chateau Cadet Piola , which was merged into Chateau Soutard. Chateau Soutard is located not far from the village of St. Emilion. The estate was completely renovated and modernized from top to bottom for all the wine making facilities, vat room and cellars with a design from the architect Fabien Pedelaborde who followed that up with his work on Chateau Marquis d’Aleseme. The work on Chateau Soutard created a gleaming new, state of the art, gravity fed, wine making facility complete with glass elevators transporting you to the cellars. The construction project was finished in time for the 2011 harvest.

 

The St. Emilion vineyard of Chateau Soutard has a terroir of limestone, clay and sandy soils. The vineyard is planted to 63% Merlot , 28% Cabernet Franc , 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Malbec . The vines are on average, 35 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,500 vines per hectare. The wine is vinified in gleaming, new, stainless steel vats of various sizes. The wine is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months. There is a second wine, Jardins de Soutard. Close to 7,000 cases of Bordeaux wine are produced by Chateau Soutard in an average vintage. There is a second wine, Jardins de Soutard.