S.O.L.

Sol — like the earth that must be preserved, like the sun (soleil in french) or like the Sologne, or  S.O.L., like Saveur Originaire du Loiret, or like Savoureux (flavourfull), Optimiste & Local. Savoureux, because on this cereal farm once owned by the Hospices of Sully-sur-Loire, then long left uncultivated and later bought by the grandfather, the mother, Nathalie — eager for a change of life — planted 10,000 hazelnut trees in 2017 and became a nut grower. Optimiste, because Benjamin, her son, who joined her in 2023 and believes there are “plenty of reasons to rejoice and believe”, diversified production, planting almond, pecan and rare citrus trees (yuzu, sudachi), imagined a processing workshop and developed strong ties with chefs and chocolatiers, with plenty of ideas in mind to go even (much) further. Local, because together mother and son have created a supply chain that did not exist in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region and convinced other neighbouring organic farmers to join in. The result: an estate (around 180 hectares, 30 of them planted with organically grown fruit trees) and a hamlet designed for tribes eager to forge a connection. A connection with the land, with nature, with a culture, with a profession — that of the farmer — which must reinvent itself to endure. So while some will lounge in the library or by the pool, improvise a game of pétanque or watch for roe deer just across from the living room at the forest’s edge, others may head out to pick, press or even taste the farm’s nuts and citrus fruits.