“Much of the finest Cabernet Franc from Saumur-Champigny is being now made by Thierry Germain at Domaine des Roches Neuves. After growing up at his family’s Château Yon-Figeac, in Saint-Émilion, Germain arrived in Loire from Bordeaux in 1991. He immediately became a leader in organic viticulture. By 1998, he was farming organically and by 2002 he had the first certified biodynamic vineyards in Saumur-Champigny. (Now a third of the vineyards in the appellation are organic.) Germain suggests that his farming has transcended science at this point: “Three years ago, I stopped all analysis, because it takes out all my emotion.” Currently, the estate is 28 hectares, with red wine making up about 85% of the 120,000 bottles annually produced. “Cabernet Franc is a rustic variety,” Germain said. “It’s vegetal, it’s volatile and it’s important to work around that. For me, Cabernet Franc over 14% loses all freshness and typicity. After 14% you lose the terroir.” The elegance, precision and purity of Germain’s Cabernet Franc is something else entirely, almost Burgundian. “It’s all about balance,” he said.”
“Much of the finest Cabernet Franc from Saumur-Champigny is being now made by Thierry Germain at Domaine des Roches Neuves. After growing up at his family’s Château Yon-Figeac, in Saint-Émilion, Germain arrived in Loire from Bordeaux in 1991. He immediately became a leader in organic viticulture. By 1998, he was farming organically and by 2002 he had the first certified biodynamic vineyards in Saumur-Champigny. (Now a third of the vineyards in the appellation are organic.) Germain suggests that his farming has transcended science at this point: “Three years ago, I stopped all analysis, because it takes out all my emotion.” Currently, the estate is 28 hectares, with red wine making up about 85% of the 120,000 bottles annually produced. “Cabernet Franc is a rustic variety,” Germain said. “It’s vegetal, it’s volatile and it’s important to work around that. For me, Cabernet Franc over 14% loses all freshness and typicity. After 14% you lose the terroir.” The elegance, precision and purity of Germain’s Cabernet Franc is something else entirely, almost Burgundian. “It’s all about balance,” he said.”
“Thierry Germain might be a Bordelais by birth but having ended up in Saumur-Champigny “par hasard”, he is now one of the appellation’s leading lights. The range of wines from Domaine des Roches Neuves has a transparency, delicacy, and ease that you encounter too infrequently. Red wine represents the majority of production at this estate with vineyards scattered around the appellation but a lightness of touch and purity of fruit are common threads no matter the soil type, or orientation. The hands-off hand of Germain is clear, even at the ‘entry-level’ Saumur-Champigny, whose label changes color every year just to keep us confused. You’re sure to be indoctrinated in the ways of biodynamics if you encounter the affable Germain but whatever your thoughts on this farming, the results speak for themselves. You’ll find the wines on the market comparatively early. “A wine that is young should be good all its life – you shouldn’t have to wait five years; it’s like missing the first five years of child’s life.””
