Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain) - Saumur-Champigny “Clos de l'Echelier” 2021 (750ml)
Price: $67.99
| Producer | Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain) |
| Country | France |
| Region | Loire Valley |
| Varietal | Chenin Blanc |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Sku | 69628 |
| Size | 750ml |
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Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain) Description
Thierry’s domaine, Roches Neuves, whose vineyards are planted in the Saumur (Blanc) and Saumur-Champigny (Rouge) appellations, has rightfully become one of the greatest examples of high achievement in biodynamic vine growing in France. We put him up there with the greats: Abbatucci in Corsica, Ganevat in the Jura, and Ostertag in Alsace. His total dedication to site specific wines produced from Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, his “parcellaires,” has produced some of the most exciting wines in the Loire Valley today.
Thierry relocated to the Loire from Bordeaux in the early 1990s, and soon fell under the influence of his spiritual father, Charly Foucault of Clos Rougeard. Thierry would ultimately convert his entire domaine to biodynamic viticulture, which was the equivalent of his wine epiphany. Listening and observing his plants, allowing them to guide him, revolutionized his way of thinking. Thierry harvests on the relatively early side to preserve fresh, vibrant fruit. His goal is to produce Cabernet with purity, finesse, and drinkability, while avoiding rusticity, vegetal character, and hard tannins. When it comes to his Chenin, he makes bone dry, high acid, mineral wines that drink like Chablis young and take on weight slowly over time. Aging takes place in large oval foudres (for the whites) and round foudres and demi-muids (for the reds) in Thierry’s frigid tuffeau cellars below his winery in Varrains. His incredibly diverse terroirs are translated with utter clarity and precision.
The “Clos de l'Echelier” vineyard is an actual Clos, surrounded by a wall built 300 years ago
Vinous: 92 Points
The 2021 Clos de L'Echelier is a delicate and tender style, with impressive purity of fruit. It is almost cloud-like in its lightness on the palate. The finest of chalk-like tannins covers the mouth in a blanket of finely-pixelated image, which can no doubt be attributed to this limestone-rich, north- facing site as well as a very delicate hand when it comes to extraction. Being 2021, there's no shortage of acidity, but it is entirely integrated within the wine, providing a thread of tension that courses through its core, leaving everything tied up on the precise finish. This is a harmonious, well- crafted example.
