Domaine de Rocheville hosts company seminars, training sessions, team meetings, cohesion days and business dinners for 15 to 100 participants, by the day, the half day or the evening. The venue is an organic wine estate in the Saumur Champigny appellation, on the slope of Parnay in Maine-et-Loire, about 10 minutes from Saumur.
Seminars and company events
The estate rents one large modular room and its panoramic terraces to companies. The room can be set in a U, in theatre style or for workshops, and comes with a video projector, Wi-Fi, a microphone and a paperboard. The estate says it has welcomed more than 50 companies, from regional firms to large groups, for more than 200 event days.
In 2020 the estate won the Grand Prix d'Or of the Trophées de l'Oenotourisme in the category for business wine tourism and private events. It presents its seminars as a choice that fits a company's environmental commitments, since the cellar is eco-built and the wines are certified organic.
Team-building options include rides on electric scooters or gyropods, an escape game, outdoor team games, a rally in the vines, a tour of the cellar with a tasting of the estate's wines, and a cooking contest. The activities are designed for both small and large teams.
Rooms and capacities
The main space is the large tasting and reception room, which looks over the barrel hall and the Parnay valley. It holds 15 to 100 participants depending on the layout. A panoramic terrace overlooking the Loire extends the room in good weather and suits a coffee break or an evening aperitif. Below the estate lie troglodyte cellars dug in the tuffeau stone, where old vintages are kept. They are part of the guided tours offered to visitors.
The estate states that it is fully accessible to people with reduced mobility. A brochure for companies can be downloaded from the seminar page.
Catering
Meals are prepared by local caterers who work with seasonal produce. Formats include a standing lunch or dinner, a grazing table, a sweet and savoury brunch, a full buffet, hot or cold meal trays for small groups and a plated meal. The estate also offers fouées, a local specialty of small wood-fired breads served with savoury and sweet fillings. Dishes can be paired with the estate's own wines.
History and setting
Philippe Porché bought his first vines on the Parnay slope at the end of 2004, and the first vintage followed in 2005. The estate received the Terra Vitis label in 2011. In 2013 the owner built a contemporary cellar close to the vines, and in 2014 an old farmhouse became the shop and tasting room with its terrace above the Loire. Conversion to organic farming started in 2016 and the estate was certified organic in 2019.
The vines grow on clay and limestone over tuffeau, the soft stone of the Saumur area. The estate makes Saumur Blanc and Crémant de Loire from Chenin Blanc, and Saumur Champigny and Saumur Rosé from Cabernet Franc. The Loire Valley around it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2000. The estate also hosts art exhibitions, open days and summer music evenings on the terrace.
Getting there
The estate stands at Les Hauts de Valbrun in Parnay, 7 km from Saumur toward Montsoreau. It is about 45 minutes from Angers and Tours, one hour from Poitiers and Le Mans, two hours from Nantes and three hours from Paris by road.
