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2022 Saumur Champigny “Cuvée Domaine”
Domaine des Roches Neuves![- Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant](https://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2022-Saumur-Champigny-Cuve-Domaine-product-image-8798-medium.jpg)
![- Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant](https://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2022-Saumur-Champigny-Cuve-Domaine-product-image_alt-8798-medium.jpg)
Thierry Germain is one of the Loire Valley’s most pensive and ever-experimenting vignerons. Whereas some winemakers who can be described this way produce eccentric cuvées, Thierry’s Cabernet Franc bottlings are incredibly pure, pretty, and refined. They demonstrate how Saumur Champigny is among the world’s very best terroirs, alongside Chinon and Bourgueil, when discussing red wines made from this grape variety.
Thierry has honed his craft over decades to get to this point. After moving from his native Saint-Émilion to Saumur in the 1990s, he trained with the legendary Foucault brothers of Clos Rougeard. Then he set off on his own, spending years tweaking his farming approach and earning the respect of the locals, who were initially skeptical of an outsider from Bordeaux. He has pursued organic and biodynamic viticulture for more than a decade, and it shows in the freshness and purity of his wines. The 2022 vintage has its trademark elegance, with notes of blackberries, forest, and graphite.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2022 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Cabernet Franc |
Appellation: | Saumur Champigny |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Thierry Germain |
Winemaker: | Thierry Germain |
Vineyard: | 15 ha, 4-70 years |
Soil: | Sand, Clay, Tuffeau Limestone |
Farming: | Biodynamic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
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Thierry’s Saumur Blancs are bone-dry, high-acid, mineral Chenin Blancs that drink like Chablis young and take on weight slowly over time.
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2017 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
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This downright Burgundian wine shows off the savory spine and weightless concentration imparted by its unique terroir.
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2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
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Outre Terre is a tiny production of Cabernet Franc fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.
![2018 Saumur <em>Blanc</em> “Le Clos du Moulin” Thierry Germain](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/products/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-2018-Saumur-emBlancem-Le-Clos-du-Moulin-product-image-4808-medium.jpg)
2018 Saumur Blanc “Le Clos du Moulin”
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Thierry Germain’s meticulous process coaxes out the delicate and aromatic side of Chenin Blanc—think jasmine, honeysuckle, and peach.
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This dry Chenin Blanc is etched from the white limestone beneath—crystalline, pure, and chiseled.
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This Saumur Champigny is electric and alive, from the first scent of roses on the nose to the juxtaposition of textured tannic grip and sheer weightlessness on the palate.
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Sourced from 110+ year-old vines, this is hands-down one of the best Cab Francs being made in the Loire Valley today.
About The Producer
Thierry Germain
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.
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
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2023 Sancerre
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2020 Saumur Champigny “Clos de l’Échelier”
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2018 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2023 Sancerre
Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Éric Chevalier France | Loire
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Eric Chevalier France | Loire
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Kermit once said...
![Old wine bottles](http://s3.amazonaws.com/efcheckout/kermitlynch/content/Kermit-Lynch-Wine-Merchant-Kermit-once-said-image_img_1-13432-medium.jpeg)
Kermit once said...
Let the brett nerds retire into protective bubbles, and whenever they thirst for wine it can be passed in to them through a sterile filter. Those of us on the outside can continue to enjoy complex, natural, living wines.
Inspiring Thirst, page 236