A Visit to Damien Laureau, October 2020
I am not sure of exactly when I first met Damien Laureau, but I can be certain of two things. First, it was quite a few years ago now, at a time when Damien was fresh-faced and beardless. Secondly, I recall I was immediately impressed by the wines, quickly coming to the realisation that all the good words I had heard about Damien (pictured) were probably true. His wines, tasted at a time when I was making a deep dive into Savennières, were among the best I tasted. Quite possibly the very best. And that included all the usual suspects renowned for their organic, biodynamic and in some cases mystical methods of viticulture.
During the many years that have since passed I have followed Damien Laureau he has remained at the top of his game, and his wines have been consistently strong. A taste of his 2015 Savennières Roche-aux-Moines, for example, should be on the bucket list of every fan of the Loire Valley. Indeed, it should be on every wine drinker’s bucket list, full stop. But Savennières is a changing environment, and today Damien is just one of a number of vignerons who are making the very best of this Anjou terroir. Around him a number of his peers have upped their game, and the likes of Eric Morgat, Thibaud Boudignon and Tessa Laroche are now making equally exciting wines.
