Thierry Germain Saumur Blanc Clos Romans 2021

“The 2021 Clos Romans’ peaceful entry starts as it it has repented for its sins, but don’t be fooled: this dry style has a fierce arrow-like line of acidity and tension penetrating the wine’s core. In its precise and tense youth, this aromatically restrained wine offers subtle florals, quince and lees-derived notes, but it needs time to unfurl, relax and blossom. Drinking window: 2025-2040. 94 points

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 the transparency, delicacy and ease 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. Even at the ‘entry-level’ Saumur Champigny, whose label changes color every year just to keep us confused, the hands-off hand of Germain is clear. 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 a child’s life.””

Rebecca Gibb, Vinous (10/23)