Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny La Marginale 2022

Roches Neuves La Marginale is made from some of the estate's oldest Cabernet Franc and is the deepest of Thierry Germain's Saumur-Champigny reds.

Saumur-Champigny sits on the left bank of the Loire east of Saumur, on tuffeau limestone that gives Cabernet Franc a lifted, aromatic cast rather than a heavy one. La Marginale comes from clay-limestone parcels in the Fossés de Chaintre — the lieux-dits Les Dares and Clos Maurice — plus a small block of old vines on Turonian limestone in the celebrated Les Poyeux. The estate is farmed biodynamically. Since 2013 Germain has shortened his macerations and cut back to one or two punchdowns, letting the wine infuse rather than extract, and the wines have gained balance and a precision seldom found in Loire reds. This cuvée spends twelve months in a 25-hectolitre foudre before finishing in three-year-old Burgundy barrels. The late Josh Raynolds wrote that many of Germain's Saumur-Champigny taste more like Burgundy than a lot of Pinot Noirs on the market.

Give it three to five years and expect it to hold for a decade. Serve lightly cool at around 16°C with roast lamb, grilled duck or a mushroom tart.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.