Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet (Hervé Souhaut)
Hervé Souhaut created Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet in 1993. Hervé works 5-hectares of old and ancient vines—between 50 to 100 years old. He is very fortunate to own two vineyards in the Rhône Valley just opposite the storied hills of Hermitage in Saint Joseph. This region is widely recognized as being one of the finest areas for wine production on the planet; thanks in part to its elevation, ancient vineyard sites, and southeastern and southern exposures. The domaine is located further into the hills of the Northern Ardeche in the tiny town of Arlebosc, about a 30-minute drive, winding through the hills from St Joseph. The winery is underneath the 16th century “les romaneaux” fortified farm and sits in the middle of the vines that make up the Souteronne, Syrah, and white cuvées.
Hervé works entirely on whole grape bunches and semi-carbonic maceration. His philosophy is to extract a delicate balance of tannins from the grapes, to make a wine with subtlety and finesse. This stands in contrast to many of the storied wines of the Northern Rhone that are made with much more extraction of tannin, where they are designed to be practically undrinkable in their youth, as time is needed for them to soften and open up. Hervé prefers to make a wine that is drinkable right away, but we must say his wines have such a fantastic level of purity and acidity, that the older bottles we have tasted have incredible potential to evolve into what we find to be one of the most spectacular natural wines in existence.
Starting in 2015, Hervé started a new side project called Les Marécos, which we are proud to also represent. Hervé’s neighbor Michel Savel, a lover of wine, decided to replant some of his hillsides vine to what they were a long time ago. He entrusted the management of the vines and the vinification of the wines to Hervé.
Certification: Practicing Organic.
- La Souteronne (Red)
- Ste Epine (Red)
- St Joseph (Red)
- Syrah (Red)
- Viognier/Roussanne (White)
- Cessieux (Red)
- Les Marécos Blanc
- Les Marécos Rouge
- Le Petit Merle Ardéchois
La Souteronne: — Back to the top
Grapes: Gamay
Vineyard: 50 to 80 years old non-clone vines on granite. A blend of grapes from 8 sites (4 hectares in total) in the communes of Arlebosc, Empurany and Colombier le Vieux, in the Vallée du Doux, all estate-owned.
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyard. They then undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without de-stemming, as whole bunches. Once pressed, the wine is aged on fine lees in secondhand oak casks and stainless steel tanks. The wine is bottled without filtration or fining, with 25 mg/L of SO2.
Tasting Note: Nearly purple in the glass with a garnet rim. The nose is an enticing array of strawberry, black cherry, plum, fig paste, smoky herbs and pounded stones. Buoyant black fruit dominates the palate and is followed by pretty red berry tones, and minerality. The granite soil evokes something very familiar and Beaujolais-like, while cloaked under the influence of the Northern Rhone, suggesting the more dark and bacon-y tendencies of Syrah from this area.
Saint Epine: — Back to the top
The Saint Epine vineyard is located right behind Hervé and Beatrice Souhaut’s house in the village of Tourney. It lies on an extremely steep slope that is terraced with old rock walls.
Age of Vines: 100 (plus!) year-old non-cloned vines
Yields: 25 hl/ha 1,500 bottles annually
Pruning Method: Gobelet
Soil: Schist
Varieties: Syrah
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without de-stemming. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks. The wine is bottled without filtration. The wine has a total SO2 of only 25mg/L.
Tasting Note: The nose shows an explosion of spices, with notes of orange, anise and violets also being present. Baking spices carry on to a mineral-based palate where they meet red cherries and a big dose of black pepper. Great acidity gives the wine plenty of lift and leads to a long mineral and pepper finish.
Pairing: Lamb shoulder, prime rib or a porterhouse steak.
Saint Joseph: — Back to the top
Hervé’s St Joseph vineyard is located high up on the slope of St. Joseph, one of the better sites among the appellation. From these vines, one can clearly view the fabled Hermitage slope, which shares very similar soil, slope, and soil characteristics with this vineyard.
Age of Vines: 10 to 100 Years
Yields: 25 hl/ha 3,000 bottles annually
Pruning Method: Gobelet
Soil: Schist
Varieties: Syrah
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without destemming. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks for eight months. The wine is bottled without filtration. The wine has a total SO2 of only 25mg/L.
Tasting Note: Violets, bacon fat and black cherry all interplay on the nose. Deep black cherry and juicy plum flavors meshed with candied violets and cool strawberry flavors on the palate. The moderate tannins highlight the fruity components on the finish.
Pairing: Leg of lamb, grilled beef, roast pork, pan seared veal chops, aged cheeses, braised rabbit, pan seared duck breast, rabbit paté on rustic bread.
Syrah: — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 10 to 100 Years
Yields: 25 hl/ha 3,000 bottles annually
Pruning Method: Gobelet
Soil: Schist
Varieties: 100% Syrah—30 year-old vines
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without destemming. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks for eight months. The wine is bottled without filtration. The wine has a total SO2 of only 25mg/L.
Tasting Note: Violets, bacon fat and black cherry all interplay on the nose. Deep black cherry and juicy plum flavors meshed with candied violets and cool strawberry flavors on the palate. The moderate tannins highlight the fruity components on the finish.
Pairing: Ideal with squab, Cornish game hen, roasted chicken or roast pork, grilled beef or lamb.
Viognier/Roussanne: — Back to the top
Romaneaux Viognier/Roussanne tech sheet
Age of Vines: 10 to 100 Years
Yields: 25 hl/ha 4,000 bottles annually
Pruning Method: Cordon de Royat
Soil: Schist
Varieties: 70% Viognier, 30%Roussanne—10 year-old non-cloned vines
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without destemming the fruit. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks for eight months. The wine is bottled without filtration. The wine has a total SO2 of only 25mg/L.
Tasting Note: Golden straw in the glass with lovely scents of white flowers, tropical fruit, wet stones and notes of oak. The palate is supple with loads of pear and fig flavors that are backed by elegant mineral notes. Moderate acidity, apple preserves and a warm note of oak lingers on the finish.
Pairing: Seared sea scallops, lobster, stewed fish dishes, creamy chicken, pasta dishes, roasted vegetables and hearty garden salads.
Cessieux: Saint Joseph
Cessieux: Saint Joseph tech sheet
A new cuvée from vines that Beatrice’s grandfather owns (along with all the other vines). But around 25 years ago, before he knew Hervé wanted to make wines, he rented that parcel out with a 25-year lease. The vines were planted back then from clonal selection (as opposed to massale (non-clone) for the rest of the vines). These vines weren’t worked organically until Hervé got the vines back in 2013. Herve says the soil in St Joseph is very rocky with very little soft soil that retains chemicals, so he thinks the chemicals have now washed out of the parcel.
Varieties: Syrah
Tasting Notes: Les Cessieux is a study of Hervé’s use of finesse in what would traditionally have made a powerful and brooding wine. The classic elements of Northern Rhone Syrah, dark red fruits and savory elements of bacon fat are present, but they are subtle in comparison with the floral aromas jumping out of the glass. Les Cessieux is Hervé’s most exuberant–one might say hedonistic–wines.
Les Marécos Blanc
Age of vines: 6 years old 
Yields: Between 30 and 40 hl/ha
Total Production: 1300 bottles
Altitude: 300 meters
Hectares: 1.2
Appellation: IGP Collines Rhodanniennes
Soil: Granite
Varieties: 50% Marsanne/ 50% Rousanne
Vinification notes: Grapes are hand harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 228-liter 3-year-old barrels for 6-7 weeks with indigenous yeast only. The wine rests in barrel for 8 months of elevage, and is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with a small addition of sulfur.
Les Marécos Rouge
Age of vines: 6 years old
Yields: Between 30 and 40 hl/ha
Total Production: 4000 bottles
Altitude: 300 meters
Hectares: .8
Appellation: IGP Collines Rhodanniennes
Soil: Granite
Varieties: 25% Merlot, 75% Syrah
Vinification notes: Grapes are hand-harvested and whole bunches are fermented semi-carbonically in stainless steel and fiberglass tanks for about 3 weeks with only indigenous yeast. The wine rests in barrel for 8 months of elevage and is bottled unfiltered, unfined, with a small addition of sulfur.
Le Petit Merle Ardéchois
Total Production: 1200 bottles
Vineyard: Souhaut’s recent small plantation in d’Arlebosc, Vallée du Doux, 0.3ha of young vines (5yrs on average) at 450 meters of altitude with south/south-east exposure.
Soil: Granite
Varieties: 100% Merlot
Vinification Notes: the grapes are hand-harvested and sorted, then fermented as whole bunches at cool temperature using only indigenous yeasts, with regular punch-downs, but no pumping over. The wine is then aged in old French oak barrels and bottled unfined, unfiltered with 25 ppm of sulfur.