The Wines of Loire
Timed Online Auction, 1 - 8 May 2023
Session 1
About the SessionThe Loire Valley is a large region that follows the longest river of France. The Loire is an exceptional place to find lean, racy, white wines, including those of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet. Red varieties include Cabernet Franc, Gamay and Cot (Malbec), which produces herbaceous, rustic reds.
About this Item
Born to a family of Bordeaux wine growers, at 23 years of age, in 1991, Thierry Germain left the Gironde to start his own domaine, Domaine des Roches Neuves, in the Loire valley. He believes the richness of the soil is key to the finesse of Saumur wines. Thierry Germain along with the Foucault brothers (Clos Rouegard) in Saumur Champigny and Nicolas Joly in Savenières have been three of the biggest drivers for quality Cabernet Franc and Chenin in the Loire. All being true believers in the merits of biodynamics.
The lot consists of 2 bottles of each Thierry Germain wines:
Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos de l'Echelier Saumur Blanc 2014 (2 x 750ml)
Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos Romans Saumur Blanc 2014 (2 x 750ml)
Provenance
Restaurant Mosaic
Critics Ratings
Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos de l'Echelier Saumur Blanc 2014
‘The white 2014 Clos de l'Échelier offers a clear, pure and smoky but also ripe and almost tropical fruit on the nose. On the palate, this is a very elegant, round and more fruity Chenin compared to the Clos Romans, but its freshness, purity and salinity is also lingering and gives tension as well as length. The wine needs some hours to open up and reveal its purity and freshness. Take this into account when you consider it too creamy and lactic in the first moments. The wine is much more vital and grippy after hours...’ – Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate, 91/100 (Oct 2016)
Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos Romans Saumur Blanc 2014
‘Fermented and aged for ten months in 400-liter oak barrels, the 2014 Clos Romans is a remarkably pure, dense, fresh and chalky Chenin Blanc full of tension and character. The wine is concentrated, aromatic and complex, but also lean, very pure and salty on the palate; surely a wine for advanced wine lovers who love the iodine flavor of the ocean and oysters, and do not care about fruit and charming roundness. Provided with an almost austere mineral grip, the Clos Romans finishes with an enormous freshness, salinity and density, but no richness. The aftertaste is salty and delivers orange flavors and a lot of grip.’ – Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate, 92/100 (Oct 2016)
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