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Thierry Germain (Roches Neuves), Saumur Champigny Les Memoires 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
The 2018 Saumur Champigny Les Mémoires is deep, bloody and spicy on the nose, with intense but tart fruit aromas of dark berries, tobacco and leather. Still fine but for now more brutish than the highly elegant 2019. On the palate, this is a smooth, refined and elegant, vital and refreshing Cabernet from 114-year-old vines. It is remarkably finessed but still a bit astringent and animally on the finish. I am also pretty sure that this 2018 will emerge as a great Loire red wine one day. The finish, with all its vitality, citrus freshness and silex nerviness, is superb and haughty, as is the perfectly ripe fruit and the silky tannins. Tasted in June 2021.
About the Producer
Domaine des Roches Neuves is located in the Saumur region and is one of the best wineries in the region. The soils here are white badlands, limestone, chert and alluvium, and the climate is unique, with both oceanic and continental influences. The winery was built in 1850. In the 1990s, when Thierry Germain took charge of the winery, the first thing he did after taking over the winery was to try to convert 22 hectares of vineyards into biodynamic agricultural vineyards. Thierry has always been committed to cultivating high-quality grapes, insisting on low yield, high maturity and high quality. No chemical fertilizers are used in the vineyard, only natural fertilizers unique to the winery are used. Thanks to the unique soil conditions, Xinshi Winery produces powerful and elegant wines. In addition, Thierry pursues low yields, only producing 1,500 liters of wine per hectare of grapes, which also makes the Cabernet Franc (Carbernet Franc) wine produced by the winery pure, thick and rich, and has the ability to cellar for decades.
