Domaine de la Soucherie hosts day and half-day seminars, residential seminars, board and executive meetings, training days and company evenings for up to 80 guests. The estate is a 28-hectare family wine property at Beaulieu-sur-Layon, in the Loire Valley about 20 minutes south of Angers, producing Anjou, Savennières, Coteaux du Layon and Chaume wines. It has 9 bedrooms on site.
Seminars and company events
Rooms are hired by the day or half day. A welcome coffee is served in the Espace Bar, whose doors open onto a panoramic terrace over the Layon valley, used for breaks between sessions. The estate provides Wi-Fi, a projector, a large screen and flip charts, with coffee breaks and a team on hand during the day.
Wine is part of the program: a tasting introduction, a visit of the cellar and food and wine pairings at meals can be added. For a company evening, a dinner or cocktail is prepared by local providers, with activities chosen with the estate. The Alcôves also suit an escape game or team workshops. The estate won the 2020 Bacchus de l'Œnotourisme award in the welcome-in-the-vineyard category.
Rooms and capacities
The Grande Salle covers 115 square meters and takes 25 around a meeting table or 40 in theatre layout; it suits board meetings, training days and VIP client meetings. The Alcôves are five connected alcoves over 100 square meters, taking 55 at round tables or 80 for a cocktail; they are used for company lunches and dinners, breakout workshops or games. The Espace Bar is the welcome and tasting area that opens onto the terrace. The Maison des Vignes, a holiday house in the vines, works as a lounge-style meeting space for up to 10 people, with sofas looking over the vineyard, a dining room and a pool heated from May to September; the estate recommends it for executive committees and small training groups.
Accommodation
There are 9 bedrooms. The Maison des Amis, a short walk from the château, has 4 guest rooms named after local wines: Chenin, Savennières, Chaume and Layon. The Maison des Vignes has 5 double rooms, named Jeanne, Marie-Louise, Marthe, Romane and Rose, around a fireplace lounge and a pool. For a residential seminar, the estate presents the 9 rooms as single rooms for participants.
Catering
Meals are prepared with local providers and served in the Alcôves, in the Maison des Vignes dining room or in the tasting cellar. The estate's own wines accompany the meal. Ask the estate which caterer it works with and what menus it suggests.
History and setting
The property was once a farm of the Dukes of Brissac. The present château was fitted out at the end of the 19th century by the Duke's wife, the Princess d'Arenberg, who used it as a summer residence and received friends there, among them the writer Joseph Kessel. A family of winegrowers bought it in 1952, and the Béguinot family has owned it since 2007. The château and cellar were restored in 2009, the guest rooms opened in 2010, the seminar and reception space with its panoramic terrace in 2011 and the Maison des Vignes in 2016. The vineyard moved to organic farming from 2019, with its first certified organic harvest in 2022.
Getting there
The estate is at the lieu-dit La Soucherie, 49750 Beaulieu-sur-Layon, about 20 minutes by car from Angers. Angers station is the natural arrival point for a group coming by train; plan a transfer for the last leg. The estate is open for visits from Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm.
