Domaine aux Moines, 2018 Update
There is something of a Savennières thread winding its way through my additions to the site this week. Obviously not when it comes to Bordeaux, Savennières having little relevance to the 2008 Domaine du Jaugaret or my profile of Château Villemaurine, but Savennières certainly featured in my Domaine Ogereau Update, and of course my Damien Laureau Update looked at nothing else. Continuing the theme, today I come to another important name in this appellation, Domaine aux Moines.
Domaine aux Moines has long been a popular name in Savennières. The wines made here were ‘old school’ in style, being of limited interest in their youth, and of only slightly more interest as they aged. They were never wines I would describe as thrilling, but they did have two aces up their sleeves. First, you could pick up mature vintages with ease, as old bottles tended to linger on the lists of restaurants and merchants alike. Second, you could often buy these old bottles for a song. The problem was, while I drank my fair share, I always thought them rather muted interpretations of Savennières, at least compared to the wines made by, for example, Claude Papin and Damien Laureau. Ironically the sweet wines, Cuvée de L’Abbesse and Cuvée des Nonnes, were far superior to the dry wines, but the modern-day image of Savennières demands dry wines, of course, and so that is what Monique Laroche made.
The Wines
The major change came just a few years ago, when the matriarchal Monique Laroche handed the running of the domaine over to her daughter, Tessa (pictured). The changes since then have been nothing short of revolutionary. The new Berceau des Fées cuvée, introduced to take the fruit from recently planted vines still too young for the Savennières appellation, is a little stunner. Here in the 2017 vintage it does not disappoint. I also had a bottle of the 2015 a few months ago, at Social Wine & Tapas, which was equally delicious.
