THIERRY GERMAN L’INSOLITE SAUMUR BLANC 2023

The 50-hectare Domaine des Roches Neuves is run by Bordelais Thierry Germain who is regarded as one of the most respected producers in the Loire Valley and is an avowed practitioner of organic and biodynamic viticulture where from his estate near the town of Saumur he makes some of the most expressive Cabernet Franc red wines in the region.

Harvesting at the domaine is all manual and vinification is done in small batches with optimally ripe grapes which leads to wines with plump and generous Cabernet Franc fruit flavours. Wines are bottled unfiltered and unfined. His painstaking attention to detail and quality has earned Thierry an enviable reputation around the world especially with Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc obsessives.

Meaning “out of the ordinary,” insolite refers primarily to the rare band of flint from which this classy blanc originates. But out of the ordinary is just as fitting a way to describe Thierry Germain. One of the most pensive and ambitious growers in the entire Loire Valley, Thierry is also one of the rare vignerons equally deft with Cabernet Franc and Chenin. Showing just as much savoury stoniness as it does notes of fruit, L’Insolite would pair as beautifully with roast chicken as it would with baked white fish or meaty mushrooms.