Domaine aux Moines: Tasting & Drinking
The only wine you are likely to encounter from this domaine is the Savennières Roche-aux-Moines, a cuvée which until recently would have had me place the Domaine aux Moines firmly in the old-school, austere-is-best category of Savennières estates, alongside Château d’Epiré for example. The wines came across as a little ungiving and a little challenging at times, with lots of ‘characterful’ aromatic notes to be found especially with the passing of time, including straw, wool and funky cheese, aromas and flavours said to be typical of the variety although I wonder whether some of them do not simply represent questionable viticulture and hygiene. Whatever their origin, they certainly do not necessarily appeal to all-comers.
Today, however, this description of the wines is out of date; the handover of winemaking and other responsibilities from the experimenter Monique, to the Reims-educated oenologue Tessa, has carried through to the quality of the wines. Tessa perhaps has a broader knowledge, having undertaken professional studies away from home, and she seems to have an understanding of where Savennières and Savennières Roche-aux-Moines sit within a national and global picture. The wines, previously rather solid and cellar-worthy, perhaps even rather rustic, have shown in more recent vintages a more polish, and more verve, with a minerally, taut and reductive style. They provide a lot more excitement then they ever did before. I anticipate more and more joyful bottles from this domaine in the future, which under Tessa Laroche I would rank as appellation leader, the only likely challenger being the highly talented Damien Laureau. (11/10/07, updated 15/6/11, 16/10/15, 30/12/20)
