Wine · Avize, Champagne
De Sousa
A family Champagne house in Avize farming chalk and old Chardonnay vines biodynamically.
- Founded by
- Antoine De Sousa
- Based in
- Avize, Champagne
Their story
De Sousa is a grower house in Avize, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs. The name is Portuguese: founder Antoine De Sousa was the son of Portuguese immigrants, and in the 1950s he married Zoémie Bonville, whose family had already been making wine in the village for generations.
Their son Erick took over the estate in 1986 and became one of the early voices for biodynamic farming in Champagne, beginning a gradual conversion in 1999. He focused on single-vineyard and vintage cuvées that show off the region's chalk. Erick died at 59 after a long illness, and his three children, Charlotte, Julie and Valentin, who already worked alongside him, carry the house forward.
How it's made
The house works mainly with Chardonnay grown on the chalky soils around Avize, including old vines in the 30 to 50 year range. The vineyards moved to organic and then biodynamic farming over the 2000s and 2010s. Cuvées such as the Caudalies are made entirely from Chardonnay.
Why we carry them
We reach for De Sousa when we want a Blanc de Blancs that tastes of the chalk it grew in. It is a great way to see what a family grower can do in the Côte des Blancs.
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