Domaine des Roches Neuves, 2020 Update
Various recent events (I probably don’t need to go into any detail) have conspired to restrict my ability to visit and taste both in the Loire Valley and Bordeaux. Fortunately for me, one tasting opportunity which didn’t slip through my fingers this year was with Thierry Germain (pictured below) at Domaine des Roches Neuves.
I think I discovered Thierry through his Terres Chaudes cuvée, maybe twenty (or maybe a few more) years ago, at a time when he was making wine in a broad, oak-framed, rather Bordelais style. By the time I got around to exploring the Saumur-Champigny appellation in detail, a few years later, while it was clear that Clos Rougeard reigned supreme, it was also clear that Thierry, by then already shifting towards a more Ligérian style, was well ahead of the rest of the pack. His wines were excellent. I have tried (with limited success admittedly, but I have had some success) to keep tabs on what he has been up to ever since.
These days I think Thierry Germain has new, stronger and broader competition within Saumur-Champigny but his wines are still on the top tier in the appellation. His 2018s, which I reported on last year, are just stunning, wines evidently made by a great vigneron in a great vintage (as I indicated in yesterday’s report on another 2018 from Jacky Blot, I have made sure I have some in my cellar). On this occasion it was time to take a look at his wines in the 2019 vintage.
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