Domaine des Roches Neuves, 2015 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
Thierry Germain of Domaine des Roches Neuves is one of the elite wine-growers in Saumur-Champigny. The cornerstone of Thierry's approach is biodynamics, and the physical and spiritual relationship between the vines, the earth, the sun, and man. He takes a very meticulous and thoughtful approach in the vineyard and cellar, and when you spend a bit of time with him, which I did back in May, you really get the sense that it is as if he knows and understands intimately each individual vine at the domaine. He makes several cuvée parcellaires from Cabernet Franc, and for each these cuvees he is seeking to communicate the terroir through the finished wine. I've already done a few videos featuring the Franc de Pied, Terres Chaudes and Clos de l'Echelier, and today we are looking at probably the domaine's most special cuvée, Les Mémoires.
The parcels for Les Mémories, along with Clos de l'Echelier, were both acquired by Thierry in 2012. The vineyards are located a stone's throw from one another in the commune of Dampierre-sur-Loire in Saumur-Champigny. Not only do they represent the upper echelon of the range of Cabernet Francs that Thierry makes, but in tasting, despite how close these vineyards are, they offer a ying and yang experience in the glass because of how different the two terroirs are.
Now, I talked a little bit before about the commune of Dampierre-sur-Loire when I looked at Thierry's Clos de l'Echelier. But there is a lot of complexity to the terroirs here, so it is worth revisiting. The topography of this commune is quite varied, which means that we find any number of exposures from vineyard to vineyard, and the nature of the topography has exposed different types of soils.
In the north and northeastern parts of the commune, as well as the southwestern portion of the commune where it borders Varrains, the vineyards are at altitudes of around 45-60m, and the bedrock here is generally the upper or middle Turonian tuffeau, with varying topsoils depending on the site.
In the centre and southern part of the commune, we find vineyards at a slightly higher elevation from say around 65m to 90m, the soils date to the Senonian age and the Eocene epoch. Now, I haven't spent much time covering these soils that date to these periods in geological history, because quite frankly, I haven't come across the same level of detail about these soils and their properties, and they just aren't discussed to the same degree that the tuffeau soils are across the appellation.
But that being said, I will try and articulate what I can. So, from the Senonian age, which is part of the Cretaceous period, we generally find a sands, clayey sands, and sandy clays, that can be mixed with quartz, sandstone and flint. These soils are deeper, often with a subsoil that is sandy-clay or in some spots a gravelly subsoil before the chalk bedrock.
From the Eocene epoch, we have two broad groups of soils. From the Lutetian age, we find a few pockets of the lacustrine, or fresh water, limestone. And this is the same freshwater limestone that we find more notably in the neighbouring commune Souzay-Champigny around the hamlet of Champigny. These soils tend to be a little more shallow with a variable subsoil. And from the Bartonian age, we have deeper clayey-sands and silty-sands, that in some cases are a bit more grey and white in colour, and in other cases more red, and these are mixed with flint, limestone or sandstone. Here we will find more sandy-clay or gravelly subsoils depending on the vineyard and parcel.
Now, why does any of this matter? Well, obvious each of these soils has different properties, which impacts the vines access to water, drainage, potential for vigour, potential yield, how early or late the site is in terms of budbreak and ripening, etc. This will all inevitably impact phenolic and sugar ripeness in the grapes. Is this important for an entry-level cuvée from a larger estate, likely not. But for a vigneron like Thierry, and others, who take the time to create cuvée parcellaires to showcase the diversity of soils in the appellation, this offers an opportunity for discovery for the consumer.
So the clos for Les Mémories is about 0.8ha of vines, and it is located towards the northern end of the commune, about 600m away from the River. And we're on a rather high plateau, we're sitting at about 85m above sea level. This site is almost entirely surrounded by forests, creating a unique microclimate here which is slightly warmer. These trees also help to enhance the biodiversity of the site as well.
While we are towards the northern end of the commune, we are at a higher elevation, so the soils are quite unique. This is where we find some of those soils that date to the Bartonian age. These are deeper soils, with a silty-sandy topsoil, and then about 70cm deep we find a sandy-clay subsoil before we hit a plateau of the chalk. These soils have a vein of flint or silex in them as well. They are also quite stony, anywhere from 50 to 100% stones. And the high percentage of stones will also contribute to the warmer microclimate of the vineyard.
The vines were planted in 1904, which means in the 2015 these vines would've been 111 years old. And because of the depth and slightly sandier textures in places in this clos, some of the vines are even on their own rootstock. And there doesn't seem to be any information on who planted this vineyard, but before Thierry acquired it in 2012, it was well-cared for for a long time by a vigneron who was, at the time, selling the fruit to the local cooperative. It is believed that these vines are perhaps some of the oldest vines, of any variety, in the entire Loire Valley.
In an effort to preserve the heritage of these very ancient vines, Thierry takes cuttings from the best plants from Les Mémories, as well as some other vineyards, and establishes new vines via selection massale in his vine conservatory, or his conservatoire de cabernet as he refers to it. And when he needs to replace vines in his vineyards, or establish a new vineyard, he will take cuttings from his vine conservatory to plant these new vines via selection massale. So he is, in a sense, continuing the legacy of these vines in new plantings across the domaine.
From a winemaking perspective, the fruit is all hand-harvested and destemmed. Fermentation is done with indigenous yeast in concrete vats. The maceration is via infusion, and Thierry will very gently wet the cap from time to time to ensure a healthy environment for the yeast. The total time on skins is about 15 to 18 days. In terms of aging, Thierry is very selective about the choice of aging vessel to ensure he "matches" the energy of the vineyard site. Opting for round vessels for soils that are deeper with a higher percentage of clay, and oval vessels where the soils are shallower with more impact from the tuffeau chalk. So in this case, this was aged in round foudres for about 12 months.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain)
Appellation: Saumur-Champigny
Commune: Dampierre-sur-Loire
Lieu-Dit: La Folie
Soil: Silty-sand topsoil, sandy-clay subsoil, 50-100% stones (flint/silex)
Alcohol: 13%
