The wines coming from this small, cerebral Rhône producer are a revelation. Jean-Baptiste Souillard operates somewhat under the radar; even dedicated Rhône enthusiasts may not know his name. This is partly due to the size of his production and partly because he does not actively seek the attention of critics. His Estate is not included in France’s version of The Wine Companion, La Revue du Vin de France, and he refuses to send samples, stating, "They can come to my cellar and taste any time they like.”

Jean-Baptiste was raised in Andance, within the Saint-Joseph appellation, where his father was the director of the Cave de Saint-Desirat, the main cooperative in the region. Rather than join the family business, Souillard chose to study and travel, gaining experience in Australia (with Giaconda) and New Zealand. Upon returning to France, he worked at Château Latour in Bordeaux and before a five-year stretch at Jean-Luc Colombo in Cornas.

Around this time, Jean-Baptiste had a pivotal internship at Comte Armand in Pommard, where he met a young Benjamin Leroux. While in Burgundy, Souillard became increasingly frustrated with his home region's tendency to overlook its many exciting lieux-dits in favour of large regional blends. By 2014, while working as an oenologist in Cornas, he felt ready to launch a micro-production négoce operation, adhering to the Cistercian method of “one parcel = one wine.”

Mirroring the early career of Leroux in Burgundy, Souillard initially focused on underappreciated old-vine sites across the Northern Rhône. Much of the Crozes-Hermitage we find in Australia originates from the warm flats of Les Chassis, where the vines grow in deep clay-alluvial soils topped with iconic galets roulés stones. Traveling north to Gervans and Larnage, you find terraced hillside vineyards dominated by granite. It is on these cool, rocky slopes that Souillard discovered the purity, freshness, and tension he seeks in his wines.

In both Saint-Joseph and Cornas, Souillard targets vineyards referred to as têtes de coteaux, or the tops of the hills. These remote, exposed sites have traditionally blended with their communes' more opulent terroir to introduce freshness and structure. During his time in Cornas, Souillard noticed that grapes from these unique sites, once thought marginal, were ripening more successfully in the current climate. He successfully secured several excellent old-vine parcels.

In the cellar, Souillard’s winemaking process is marked by deep thought and intuition. He is an incredibly meticulous vintner, a trait his former boss, Ben Leroux, can attest to. As Souillard recently stated, “If you want to do nothing [to the wine], you have to know everything.” Consequently, in his naturally cool cellars, reds undergo wild fermentation at their own pace, with a high proportion of whole bunches. Extractions are handled delicately and thoughtfully, and the wines age with minimal sulphur and in neutral oak (barrique).

Souillard favours what the French call vins de garde, or wines meant to age. His Syrahs typically deviate from the current trend for simple, easy-drinking vin de soif, a style he believes can be made anywhere by anyone. This doesn’t mean the wines should only be approached after aging; they are supple and precise, built around layers of perfume, spice and mineral freshness. Visitors seeking the super-ripe, full-throttle style of the Rhône Valley will not find it here. Instead, Souillard draws inspiration from the great vignerons of the northern Rhône's past—Raymond Trollat, Bernard Faurie and Robert Michel—using traditional winemaking techniques (natural yeast, whole clusters) to create a style that reflects an old-school classicism that is increasingly rare in the region today.

Souillard’s whites are equally impressive. He uses altitude, precise picking and long, slow fermentations to create a range of whites that are fresher and more food-friendly than the norm. After partial crushing, Souillard allows for a brief maceration period to extract some tannin and bitterness, which builds freshness and food-friendly structure—what he calls la voie d’amers, or "the bitter road." At their best, these whites are among the most surprising and rewarding selections in our portfolio.

As of 2022, Souillard has been working with his family’s vines in the heart of Saint-Joseph. The Andance vineyards were previously leased to the Cave de Saint-Desirat. Now farmed organically, Jean-Baptiste is using the fruit from these terrific old vine parcels in his blended Vin de France range, and to increase his range of his single-vineyard Saint-Joseph lieux-dits.