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Chateau La Bouscade; the team, the vines and the wines David and Jo Cowderoy David and Jo met at the University of London in the 1980’s where they both read agricultural related degrees. David then continued his studies, as a post-graduate, in Viticulture and Oenology (winemaking) in Australia. They have aspired since early in their careers to establish a project such as Château La Bouscade to produce premium, hand crafted wines. Chateau La Bouscade is
in the heart of the Minervois region of the
Languedoc-Roussillon, France, a wine growing region which they
recognise as having the climate and terroir potential to
produce great wines with diversity and complexity.
Winemaking David possesses a unique blend of experience and knowledge from 20 years as a winemaker in many regions of the world. Along with his technical skills, he is an artist at heart and a perfectionist. He also pays meticulous attention to the selection of casks, wine blends, and winemaking techniques. This is shown in the complexity and balance of the wines he has created. David's interest in wines began at an early age as he was born at one of the earliest vineyards in England, Rock Lodge in Sussex. However his winemaking career began after his post-graduate diploma in Oenology and Viticulture from Roseworthy College, Australia. During the first ten years, as an
International ‘flying winemaker’ he made wines around the world,
including Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Chile, Argentina and
France. He is also well known as a pioneer of English Wine,
producing the first sparkling and setting up Chapel Down Wines
in the mid 1990s. Later in his career David was Group Winemaker,
first for Bottle Green Ltd, and then for IWS/ Waverly, a division of and Scottish & Newcastle, running
projects in Europe, South America and South Africa.
In June 2007 Mark Petit joined the team at Chateau La Bouscade in the vineyard and winery. A graduate of Plumpton College in Viticulture and Winemaking, he also has the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma.
Château La Bouscade has 12 hectares (30 acres) of vineyards stretching across stony hillsides in the heart of the Minervois region of the Languedoc-Roussillon, France. Many of the vines are over 40 years old, low-yielding, giving excellent fruit concentration and producing intense, complex wines. The grape varieties include: Syrah, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Chardonnay, Vermentino and Macabéo. The cultivation techniques, and attention detail, produce grapes of premium quality and a range of hand-crafted wines. As the best wines are made from the best fruit, the vines receive much individual attention during the year. Pruning is an important start to the season, particularly for helping control the yield and the eventual even ripeness of the crop. Careful canopy management on both the trellised and ‘goblet’ vines ensures that the grapes have optimum sun exposure, avoid disease, and can achieve ideal ripeness. Many of the vineyards are crop thinned to reduce yields and further enhance quality. The grapes are then all hand-harvested, with further berry selection in the winery on the triage table. The grapes from each of the 22 vineyards are fermented separately, and skilfully blended after maturation. Photos of the vineyard year and harvest..
click here The Wines
La Bouscade currently produces a range of eight different wines; five reds, one white, a rosé and a late harvest. All the grapes from La Bouscade are hand-harvested, with further berry selection in the winery. The top of the range wine is called 'QED from La Bouscade'; it is David's selection of the ‘best of the best’. The wines are for people who recognise quality; who are interested in details of origin, variety and winemaking techniques used; who would like to explore wines with the diversity and complexity that the Old World can, at its best, produce. For more details on wines please click here: Winemaking photos For information on prices and where to obtain La Bouscade wines please click here or email: sales@labouscade.com telephone +33 (0) 486 49 09 86 or fax +33(0)468 65 15 36.
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They
moved to the Minervois, with their 3 teenage daughters, in 2004.
Since
acquiring Château La Bouscade in 2005 they have improved
cultivation techniques to produce grapes of premium quality. The
winery has now been furnished with state of the art equipment
suited to the production of hand-crafted wines and they have
invested in premium oak barrels to allow the subtle development
of the wine. Each harvest so far has been different; the 2005
with very concentrated ripe fruit, the 2006 with higher
yields and slightly lower alcohol levels, and the 2007 - the
best yet! However, all produced excellent quality fruit and they
have created an outstanding range of wines. 
