Tasting Diaries: April 2025
No.58 | What's In My Glass
April was a busy yet delicious month. With May in my sights and a lot to look forward to, I close out this month feeling light, rejuvenated, and inspired. Here are some of the wines that excited and delighted my palate in recent weeks.
Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain), 2019 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires” (13.0% abv., SRP $68USD): This cuvée was my first introduction to Domaine des Roches Neuves many moons ago, so I always enjoy revisiting it. From a parcel that Thierry acquired in 2012, the vines are some of the oldest (if not THE oldest) Cabernet Franc vines in the Loire Valley, planted in 1904. The soils in this plot are a bit atypical for Saumur-Champigny. Dating to the Bartonian Age, there is about 70cm of a sandy-silt topsoil, followed by a deep sandy-clay subsoil with a very high proportion of flint pebbles and stones and virtually no impact of the tuffeau chalk. The 2019 is entering a really nice drinking window, with its earth and tertiary layers starting to peak th…