I opened this to satisfy my own curiosity, but also to (hopefully) assuage doubts some have expressed about the 2018 vintage in the Loire.
The nose was, unsurprisingly, primary and not very developed at this stage, with notes of juicy raspberry and herbs, a little mint but that’s it. But already, that made me quite optimistic - it smelt like a normal Roches-Neuves. The first sip confirmed that there is no reason to worry - quite rich, concentrated raspberry flavours, but with the usual crunchiness and the usual clipping acidity to bring the fruit back into line. It is a little richer than normal, but in a restrained and civilized way. It is of course quite hard work to drink now - four hours in a decanter were not enough. If you know UK sweets (or candy if you prefer), this is like drinking a hypothetical zero dosage Rowntrees raspberry wine gum!
But you can see very clearly where it is going - this reminded me of the 2009 - very well-rounded, ripe but not overripe.
At 13.5° this is higher than usual - normally this wine is 12.5 to 13° - but I didn’t notice the difference much.
What reassured me is that the fruit did not taste remotely high-octane and syrupy. My only doubt concerns the time needed for it to really shine - it will be fun in five years’ time but I think it needs at least ten more years to shine, possibly more - but it will then be an absolute corker of a wine!
Thanks for the note, Julian. I’m watching 2018 Loire just like you are, this is one wine that I would suspect not to be over-ripe, so glad to see it in writing!
Yes, Robert, this was with you in mind, actually, after your recent disappointments! I think we will certainly have a few nasty surprises from other producers, but not this one.
Steen - yes, I think you would like this sort of wine. Thierry Germain’s wines can be quite a shock if you come at them from a Bordeaux perspective, unless you like Clos Du Jaugueyron or Sociando Mallet. He is an interesting case in point - because he’s a Bordelais himself. His first wines were very modern-Bordeaux-like, full of oak and high octane fruit. A very long time ago, I had a Terres Chaudes 2005 in a restaurant. I was expecting a “normal” Saumur-Champigny (as I knew them at the time), so fresh, easy-going - I found it awful, as if Michel Rolland had set up shop and I never went back for another ten years or so. But he did a 180° turn in the late 00s, went biodynamic and began producing wines in the current style - less ripe, not much oak, not much sulphur, crunchy fruit. Very much in tune with current tastes and the polar opposite to Rolland and Co.
Julian, thanks for the note. I’ve been sitting on all of my ‘18s including this bottling. Was going to try it out of curiosity in the next few weeks but maybe I’ll crack a different one instead.
Found a bottle of this at Elystan Street last night. Asked sommelier to splash decant it and we drank it between an hour and two hours later. Hard to add much to Julian’s initial note except to say that this was very elegant and light on its feet and with some classic chalkiness and green pepper notes becoming quite prominent. Loved it.