Domaine des Roches Neuves, 2017 Saumur-Champigny ‘Clos de l'Echelier’
Cab Franc du Jour #75
Thierry Germain of Domaine des Roches Neuves stands among the upper echelon of vignerons not only in Saumur-Champigny and the Loire but in all of France. Through biodynamic principles applied in both vineyard and cellar, Thierry has developed a profound understanding of the relationship between his Cabernet Franc vines and the soils in which they are planted. As demonstrated through his five cuvées parcellaires, of which today’s wine is one, that intimate connection translates into wines of remarkable clarity, energy, and balance.
The Commune of Dampierre-sur-Loire
Today’s wine takes us to the commune of Dampierre-sur-Loire in Saumur-Champigny. The appellation encompasses nine historical communes, and the word historical is worth noting: a few of these communes, including Dampierre-sur-Loire, have merged politically or administratively into larger municipalities over time, but from a wine perspective the Saumur-Champigny appellation continues to treat them as individual entities.
Dampierre-sur-Loire is one of the six communes that hugs the banks of the Loire River before stretching southwest into the heart of the appellation, running approximately 3km from north to south. Vineyards closest to the Loire generally benefit from a stronger moderating influence, which affects both budbreak and harvest timing, though the nature and depth of the topsoil also plays a role: sandier soils tend to run warmer, clay cooler.
The topography of the commune is quite varied, exposing different soil types in different areas. In the northern and northeastern parts of the commune, as well as the southwestern corner where it borders Varrains, vineyards sit at around 45 to 60m above sea level over bedrock of Upper or Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk, with varying topsoils depending on the specific site. In the central and southern parts of the commune, at slightly higher elevations of roughly 60 to 85m, the soils date to the Senonian and Eocene eras, comprising a wide variety of clays and sands mixed with flint, limestone, or sandstone depending on location.
Clos de l’Echelier
The Clos de l’Echelier is located very close to the Loire River, only a couple of hundred metres away, at an elevation of 58m. The clos is surrounded by a wide variety of trees that Thierry regards as important for the biodiversity of the vineyard. The bedrock here is the Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk, defined in this part of the appellation as the craie verte, a glauconitic and micaceous chalk with a slightly higher iron content that gives it a subtle greenish hue when weathered. There is very little topsoil, with only 30 to 50cm of mixed clay, silt, and sand with moderate stoniness before the tuffeau is reached. Thierry acquired the clos in 2012, and it covers approximately 1.4 hectares with vines of around 40 years of age.
As has been observed across visits to producers throughout the Loire, some vignerons allow the soils of a given site, specifically the depth and texture of the topsoil and the nature of the bedrock, to directly inform their decisions in the cellar. Thierry Germain is perhaps the most deliberate embodiment of this philosophy. In the case of the Clos de l’Echelier, the shallow topsoil over tuffeau suggests to him a more vertical, linear wine, and he chooses to reflect this in the élevage by aging in oval foudres, whose vertical shape he regards as aligned with the wine’s character, as opposed to the round, horizontal vessels he uses for deeper, more clay-influenced sites.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-picked and fully destemmed. Fermentation takes place in wooden vats with indigenous yeast, with the wine spending approximately 15 to 18 days on skins. Extraction is kept to a bare minimum, with only very light pump-overs to keep the cap moist. The goal is infusion rather than extraction. The wine is then aged in 1,200L oval foudres for approximately 12 months before bottling.
Wine Details
Producer: Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain)
Appellation: Saumur-Champigny
Commune: Dampierre-sur-Loire
Lieu-Dit: Clos de l’Échelier
Soil: Craie verte (middle Turonian; glauconitic, micaceous chalk) with 30-50cm of topsoil (sand, silt, clay mix)
Alcohol: 13.0%