Stunning, Stunning Aged Chenin (95 Year Old Vines) - LIMITED
and a Fantastic Red
One of Two *** Estates in the Loire (Along with Rougeard)
This Wine will be as Expensive and as Hard to Get As Rougeard within 5 Years
Many of you have been sending me emails about how great Thierry Germain's wines at the Domaine des Roches Neuves are. I am not one to be a contrarian and completely agree they are terrific and give Clos Rougeard a run for his money. He is the only three star estate in the Loire according to RVF along with Clos Rougeard and we all know the price of admission there is ridiculous these days. I have two wines today and one I have offered before but that was a while ago and the wine is a great place right now.
Up first is a wine I have not offered before the 2008 Domaine des Roches Neuves "l'Insolite" Saumur Blanc for as little as $32.99 a bottle. L'Insolite is literally translated as "unusual" (at least according to Google Translate). It is from a selection massale parcel of 95 year old Chenin Blanc vines and is aged in one and two and two year old oak barrels and then it is transferred to 1,200 liter casks. Thierry says it preserves the minerality. It then spends a year on the lees and is bottled. I remember the first time I tasted this cuvee (an earlier vintage I don't recall) I really liked it but had never really experienced barrel aged Chenin, and my wine arrogant-dar went off telling me I should not like wood aged Chenin Blanc, but I could not resist this wine. The 2008 is everything I loved in that long forgetten vintage but it has a wonderful aged character now. Fruit, minerals and loads of luscious green apple but also an appealing and decadent hint of caramel. The very nice acidity keeps this very fresh. It also reminds me of the Mosel which Thierry says inspired this wine. It is just so alive in your mouth and now at this point it drinks like Chenin made in Meursault with a Mosel twist. Totally awesome. This is limited.
I also have some of the 2010 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny "La Marginale" for as little as $42.99 on a 3-pack. I offered this back in May but it is even in a better place now. It is only made in exceptional vintages and there have been some great vintages in Saumur recently with this being made in '11, '12, '13, as well. Theconcentration is superb as is the fine, silky tannins and it shows the compactness and completeness of the vintage. It is similar to the great vintage in Bordeaux, in that it hasincredible power and finesse with undeniable freshness. This is not your father's Loire Cab Franc.
I love this style of Cabernet Franc as it is ripe and juicy with minimal greenness but it is there, but only as secondary note/complementary part to the whole. Such a wonderful wine. I cannot recommend this enough. For some reason Thierry has not caught on with all of the cool kids yet and his wines are relatively still easy to attain at a somewhat normal tariff. That will change soon as the cool kids always seem to be behind by a number of years when it comes to certain wines. But mark my words, this wine will be as sought after as Clos Rougeard, Guiberteau and Vatan and the name Thierry Germain will command the same oohs, ahhs as the cool cult wines of the Loire now. Watch out cool kid wines, another estate has arrived to the party. This is limited.
One more thing!
One of the reasons I offer 3-4 packs is so people can commit infanticide on a wine and follow it for 2-3 days to see if they like it so they can possibly purchase future vintages and estimate when it will be ready to drink. Please, I implore you, sacrifice one infant at the altar (dinner table) and, yes I know its young, but I don't want people to miss out on great wines because they have not tried it yet it is in their cellar! How else do you think I select wines? I taste them in an infant almost zygote state.
If I could please ask you to hit reply and send me your billing and shipping addresses along with your order if you are a first time customer. My phone number is 917-912-4355 and you can reach me to give me your CC #'s (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
Office Hours CANCELLED through 9/20/15!!
I left for Germany Sept 3rd and have to cancel office hours until I get back. Effective immediatly. You can call Nick at 646 498 6078 to give him your CC#. If you need to geek out on wine I will have limited e-mail availability from Sept 3rd via Sept 20th.
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