Loïc Mahé, 2018 Update
In understanding Savennières it is essential to get to grips with the contribution made to the rise of this appellation by the newcomers. This small band of vignerons includes of Damien Laureau, Eric Morgat and of course Loïc Mahé. While some of these newcomers originated from viticultural families, perhaps based somewhere along the banks of the Layon rather than the banks of the Loire, while others were completely new to wine. This was certainly the case with Loïc Mahé, who started his working life as an agricultural advisor before deciding to commit to viticulture and winemaking. He began back in the 1990s, first by getting some experience working with the aforementioned Damien Laureau, but by 2000 he had acquired his first parcel of land in Savennières. And he has never since looked back.
The Wines
I stopped off to taste a selection of the current releases from Loïc (pictured above), with a focus on Savennières of course, but we kicked off first with two wines in the Anjou appellation. The 2015 Le Petit Moulin showed the warmth of the vintage, but the 2016 Gourmandise du Gué d’Orger showed not only more perfume, but a more rigid structure, and it would certainly be my preferred choice for drinking from these two.
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