R240,00 | 750mL
A living tribute to Anne Souchay, La Luandière’s founding matriarch, this Chenin Blanc speaks of quiet strength, refinement, and endurance. Drawn from old vines rooted near the river and the old manor house, Madame Souchay carries both the memory of the Loire and the sunlit generosity of Paarl.
This is not a fleeting white wine made only for immediate pleasure. It is crafted with patience, texture, and longevity in mind — a Chenin Blanc intended to gather complexity with time. Its natural acidity, old-vine concentration, and gentle oak influence give it the structure to age gracefully, revealing deeper layers of honey, wax, citrus peel, stone fruit, and spice as the years unfold.
Tasting Note
Glossy pale gold in the glass, Madame Souchay opens with aromas of white peach, quince, citrus blossom, dried honey, and mandarin peel. The palate is layered and quietly powerful, with ripe stone fruit, lemon curd, beeswax, and a subtle herbal edge. Extended lees contact gives the wine a creamy, almost waxen texture, while bright natural acidity keeps the finish lifted, precise, and elegant.
- The Chenin Blanc vines grow in sandy loam soils close to the river, where the land offers both drainage and gentle moisture retention. These old vines produce fruit with natural concentration, texture, and freshness.
- In the cellar, the wine is handled with restraint. Minimal intervention allows the character of the vineyard to remain central. Careful maturation builds texture and quiet complexity, while bottle ageing gives the wine time to settle into itself before release.
- At La Luandière, ageing is part of the making. Madame Souchay is crafted to move beyond youthful fruit into deeper layers of honey, wax, spice, and mineral texture over time.
- Madame Souchay is the most delicate of the four wines, but not the simplest. It carries the feminine strength of the La Luandière story — gentle at first, then increasingly layered and enduring.
- In youth, it is lifted and luminous. With time, it becomes broader, more savoury and more contemplative. It reminds us that beauty does not always announce itself loudly; sometimes it gathers slowly, like memory.
- Wine: Madame Souchay
- Cultivar: Chenin Blanc
- Origin: Paarl, Western Cape
- Vineyard: Old Chenin vines near the river and old manor house
- Soil: Sandy loam with granite influence
- Winemaking: Minimal intervention, gentle handling, extended lees contact
- Maturation: 12 Months in 100% French Oak | 24 Months Matured in Bottle
- Style: Textured, elegant, age-worthy Chenin Blanc
- Serving Temperature: 10–12°C
- Cellaring Potential: 8–12 years
Wines are made not only for the moment of drinking, but for patience, memory, and time.
At La Luandière, the wines are made with an old-world understanding of time. They are not rushed into early charm or shaped for immediate applause. Each wine is allowed to carry the rhythm of the farm: the warmth of Paarl, the cooling breath from the Klein Drakenstein Mountains, the quiet strength of the soils, and the patience of traditional cellar work.
Our winemaking philosophy is one of minimal intervention, careful extraction, and long maturation. Fermentation is handled gently, with respect for the fruit and the natural structure of each cultivar. The wines are matured in French oak for approximately twelve months, then given further time in bottle before release. This extended ageing allows the wines to settle, integrate, and reveal themselves slowly.
These are wines made to age — not simply to survive time, but to become more complete through it. With patience, the fruit softens, the tannins become finer, the oak folds into the wine, and the deeper notes of earth, spice, dried herbs, tobacco, honey, beeswax, and mineral texture begin to emerge.
Madame Souchay is made from old Chenin Blanc vines planted near the river and the old manor house, where sandy loam soils give the wine both generosity and balance. These old vines have deep roots and an established rhythm, drawing slowly from the soil and producing fruit with concentration, freshness, and quiet complexity.
The site is central to the character of the wine. Paarl gives ripeness, golden fruit, and warmth, while the river influence and old-vine balance help preserve freshness and length. The sandy loam soil offers both drainage and moisture retention, allowing the fruit to ripen steadily without losing its natural acidity.
In the glass, Madame Souchay opens with white peach, quince, pear, citrus blossom, mandarin peel, and soft yellow apple. With time, more layered notes appear: honeycomb, lanolin, almond skin, dried herbs, beeswax, and a faint saline minerality. The palate is textured and graceful, with ripe fruit at its centre, a fine line of acidity and a long, gently savoury finish.
This is not a simple, youthful Chenin made only for freshness. It is a wine made with ageing in mind. In its youth, it offers brightness, stone fruit, and floral delicacy. With bottle age, it will develop deeper notes of baked apple, quince preserve, honey, roasted nuts, wax, spice, and dried citrus peel. The texture will become broader and more layered, while the acidity will keep the wine alive and elegant.
Madame Souchay reflects the old Loire thread within the La Luandière story: refined, patient, and quietly enduring, yet unmistakably shaped by Paarl soil and South African light.
