Domaine des Roches Neuves: Tasting & Drinking
In the early years the wines of Domaine des Roches Neuves were indicative of Thierry Germain’s Bordeaux origins, being dark, extracted and laced with oak. They were still attractive wines with the potential to age well, but in terms of style they were outliers for the Saumur-Champigny appellation. Loire traditionalists disliked them much more than I did, but I could see their point. In the years that have since passed, however, there have been many positive developments at Domaine des Roches Neuves, and these days the wines are more convincing. Thierry’s use of oak has been reined in, and there has been a lot of attention to fruit quality, as evinced by his conversion to biodynamic practices in the vineyard. Together these moves have brought the wines into a much greater balance, and as a result not only are the red wines now of exceptional quality, they speak much more clearly of the Loire Valley than they used to.
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