ALICE AND JERÔME TOURBIER, OWNERS AND FOUNDERS OF THE LES SOURCES GROUP: ‘IN FRANCE, THERE IS A LACK OF OFFERS COMBINING TOURISM AND OENOLOGY’
For more than 20 years, the couple have been working to enhance the wine-producing regions through their ultra-luxury establishments. Le Journal des Palaces went to meet them on the road to Les Sources de Cheverny. |
|
ALICE AND JERÔME TOURBIER, OWNERS AND FOUNDERS OF THE LES SOURCES GROUP: ‘IN FRANCE, THERE IS A LACK OF OFFERS COMBINING TOURISM AND OENOLOGY’
For more than 20 years, the couple have been working to enhance the wine-producing regions through their ultra-luxury establishments. Le Journal des Palaces went to meet them on the road to Les Sources de Cheverny. |
Catégorie : Europe - France - Économie du secteur
- Interviews et portraits
- Tourisme - Interviews - Les Leaders du secteur
Interview de Romane Le Royer le 31-01-2025
 Alice and Jérôme Tourbier, founders and owners of the Sources collection, in their bucolic setting in Cheverny
Crédit photo © Pierre Julien Morel / MP Studios
Born into a family of entrepreneurs - her sister Mathilde Thomas and her husband Bertrand are themselves the creators of the vinotherapy cosmetics brand Caudalie - Alice Tourbier grew up surrounded by oenology enthusiasts. Her parents, Daniel and Florence, bought the estate and vines of Château Smith Haut Lafitte in 1990, in Martillac, a Graves Grand Cru Classé. And it was opposite this estate that the first establishment with the ‘Sources’ label was born, with Les Sources de Caudalie, in 1999.
‘Caudalie’, the name that links the two sisters, is directly inspired by the world of oenology and expresses the length of time the aromas of wine express themselves on the palate. It was directly inspired by this world of vines that the couple, Alice and Jérôme Tourbier, embarked on a hotel adventure in a place they knew well. The establishment quickly became one of the region's must-visit hotels and was awarded the Palace distinction in 2016.
Alice and Jérôme Tourbier embody a unique and daring vision of luxury hotels, rooted in authenticity, elegance and the French art of living. For over twenty years, this passionate couple have been creating exceptional places where well-being, gastronomy and wine heritage come together in perfect harmony. As visionary entrepreneurs, they have made their mark on the world of top-of-the-range hotels, creating establishments that combine refinement and simplicity, luxury and nature, hospitality and local produce.
Buoyed by their success in Bordeaux, Alice and Jérôme Tourbier were quick to imagine an extension of their concept. But far from succumbing to unbridled expansion, they opted for thoughtful development, true to their values of authenticity and heritage preservation.
In 2020, they opened Les Sources de Cheverny, in the Loire Valley. This second establishment, set in the heart of a vineyard steeped in history, will be based on the same principles that have made Les Sources de Caudalie such a success: a hotel with character, where luxury is combined with simplicity and nature. The project is part of a desire to promote local expertise, by giving pride of place to local products and working with craftsmen and producers from the Loire region. Le Favori, the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant, offers authentic, locavore cuisine, while the spa at Les Sources, by Caudalie invites you to take a break for a wellness break inspired by wine-making rituals, as in Martillac.
In addition to their quest for excellence, Alice and Jérôme Tourbier have positioned themselves as pioneers of a hotel industry that is more respectful of the environment. Right from the creation of Les Sources de Caudalie, they implemented an eco-responsible approach: green energy, short circuits, waste reduction, permaculture... Each establishment in the collection adopts sustainable practices, aiming to minimise its ecological footprint while making the most of local resources.
Alice and Jérôme Tourbier gave an interview to Journal des Palaces in which they talk about the challenges they have faced in their hotel venture, and the future prospects for their collection.
Journal des Palaces: How did the Sources group come about?
Alice Tourbier: We embarked on this adventure with common sense and a desire to please. We were young, and a bit open to everything, but we wanted to work side by side with our teams, for others. The hotel business was a good way of bringing these ambitions together.
From the outset, our objective was not to be satisfied with just one hotel. Our knowledge of and love for wine made us want to keep this link in our hotel, and then in our hotels. If we took a DUAD, it was to give depth to our tasting, and to better understand the work done by our head sommelier. We keep a firm grip on the restaurant and wine business, which has enabled us to bring together a wide variety of exciting professions that we are able to understand. We started with the Bordeaux region, which we know well, with Caudalie in Martillac, then the Loire Valley region, with Cheverny. These are two very important regions on the wine route.
Jerôme is in charge of human resources, team management and catering. For my part, I took charge of communications, decoration and customer service.
How did your childhood and your studies at the faculty of oenology in Bordeaux influence your choice of the hotel trade?
Alice Tourbier: We quickly realised that what made Les Sources de Caudalie unique was this direct connection to the vineyards, this art of living in the heart of the vines that is the envy of the whole world. Wine is the common thread running through our homes, and this wine culture is imbued, even without mentioning the drink. We are developing this link at the table, of course, but also through our view of the vines. We want to be at the heart of the vineyards, to organise visits and tastings. Les Sources de Cheverny has five hectares of Romorantin vines.
Our two establishments are privileged to have head sommeliers, who can offer introductory tasting sessions, for example. And, of course, the Spa by Caudalie, which uses the brand's patented vine and grape extracts, always at the heart of this wine-growing culture.
How did your experience at Martillac inform the launch of Les Sources de Cheverny?
Alice Tourbier: We first opened another hotel, Les Étangs de Corot, in Ville-d'Avray, in 2008. We were already offering an experience inspired by the Sources de Caudalie, but in the form of a four-star hotel, which we wanted to change in the projects that followed. The hotel had two restaurants, one of which was Michelin-starred, and a spa. What we lacked was a wine destination, with winegrowers as neighbours and partners.
It was also a seminar destination, because of its proximity to Paris and Versailles. During the week, we had a very large majority of businesses, and a population of Parisians at the weekend. So we parted company with this hotel just before Covid, which was probably a good thing, given the consequences for the sector.
So we concentrated on our new destination in the Loire Valley, at Cheverny, and rethought our strategy. It was simpler to create leisure activities, and it's a very strategic destination: the hotel is at the heart of the golden triangle between Chenonceaux, Chambord and Blois, and just five minutes from the Château de Cheverny. It's this location that allows our guests to enjoy a longer stay, because they can visit all four châteaux on the same trip. At the same time, we've developed our own activities, including bike hire, yoga and classes with sports coaches. There's something for everyone.
What have been your biggest challenges?
Alice Tourbier: Our biggest challenge is still getting the word out about our destinations. Today, the French know us, but the Americans are just discovering us. And that's why we work with luxury travel agencies, to build that trust.
Foreigners are not necessarily familiar with France's smaller châteaux, apart from Versailles and Chambord. The agencies are very happy to recommend to their customers that they go to a region they hadn't thought of. They're looking for both a break from it all and wine tourism. When they come to a Les Sources hotel, they know that they'll find a gastronomic destination, and that wine will be part of the experience. But, for example, the Loire Valley is less developed as a wine destination than Bordeaux or Burgundy. It's above all a historical tourism destination, which attracts visitors. So we've made contact with winegrowers in the surrounding area to organise visits, to encourage this partnership: we offer the different houses, and these houses also attract customers to us.
What changes have you seen since the group was founded, in the expectations of both your teams and your customers?
Jérôme Tourbier: Our teams expect a lot from their company, perhaps more than before. For example, eco-labelling was very important to us in terms of our values and convictions, but also for our teams. Another change is the way we look at our efforts to protect the environment.
In all our establishments, our luxury is the environment in which we operate. It was important for us to pass on this commitment through a label: reduction of energy use, elimination of single-use plastics. Our staff rallied round this noble cause, and we were the first luxury hotel to obtain this label. Luxury and eco-responsibility have often been contrasted. I think that, on the contrary, luxury hotels should set an example.
As owners, the link with the managers of your hotels is crucial. How do you manage to share your values on a daily basis?
Jérôme Tourbier: Today, our message is best conveyed by our teams. Even though we go out into the field as much as possible, they are our best ambassadors. We pass on our values to them, and then they do the work of passing them on.
In our recruitment, even if we're looking to bring in young people, we also need experienced people with miles on their odometer who know how we work. There's also this passing on of the baton when we open a new hotel: we've been growing Les Sources de Caudalie for some twenty years. When Les Sources de Cheverny opened, the hotel was able to do without us for longer periods, just long enough for the new establishment to grow. You always have to support your addresses, even if you have two, five or ten hotels. In Bordeaux, our managers bring quality, but so do our operational teams, who have been here for a long time and can take the initiative.
In 2025, you will be opening two new Sources, at Gilly-lès-Cîteaux and Isenbourg, the first in a real collection of Sources. What are the next steps in the development of the Sources group?
Jérôme Tourbier : Our houses will remain at the heart of their environment: four houses for four major wine-growing regions (Bordeaux, Loire, Alsace, Burgundy). As at Caudalie and Cheverny, this culture of wine involves drinking, but also visiting the region, its geography and its vineyards.
In addition to these regions, we would like to complete our collection of vineyard hotels with the Provence and Champagne regions. In France, there is a lack of offers combining tourism and oenology, which is not the case in neighbouring countries such as Spain and Italy. We want to concentrate primarily on France, but we're not closing the door on international development. You don't want to acquire for the sake of acquiring.
With Alice, we are involved right up to the choice of the teaspoon, so there is an incompressible amount of time to be given to each establishment. The houses are reaching a level that suits us more and more quickly, but for Burgundy, which opens in a year's time, we know that the first two years of the house's life are like a baby, you have to take good care of it.
What advice would you give to a young person wanting to make a career in the luxury hotel sector?
Jérôme Tourbier: You have to know how to be daring in luxury, and not be afraid of it. You also have to take the time to learn, not be impatient, and enjoy it when you've mastered a job. I like to think that you need three years in a job to master it. In the first year, you discover the job, in the second, you start to make your mark and in the third, you master it perfectly. If you believe in a company, you shouldn't be afraid to be loyal to it.
Often, young people coming out of school do the ‘right thing’ in a career until they're 30, and then wonder what they want to do. I think that's a question you have to ask yourself right from the start, to find something that makes you tick. So you have to give yourself time to work out what you want, and not be afraid of failure.
|
|
