Domaine Thierry Germain (Roches Neuves), Saumur, Clos Echelier Blanc 2021 - 75cl
Clos Echelier is a walled parcel of Chenin Blanc on the limestone of Saumur, and Thierry Germain treats it with the seriousness most people reserve for Grand Cru white Burgundy. Farmed biodynamically at Domaine des Roches Neuves, it's picked ripe, fermented with wild yeasts and raised slowly — a dry Chenin built to age, not a quaffing wine.
Loire Chenin at this level is a thrilling thing. The 2021 gives you quince, ripe pear and a waxy, lanolin note, then honeysuckle, chamomile and the flinty, struck-match reduction that marks out the best examples. What holds it all together is Chenin's electric acidity and that chalky Saumur minerality — the wine feels dense and creamy in the mouth yet finishes bone-dry and taut, with real length. There's an almost saline savour on the close.
You can drink it now with serious food, but this is a wine that rewards the cellar; five to ten years will bring out its honeyed, deeper register. If you love white Burgundy but want something with more nerve, start here.
How to Serve
Serve at 11–13°C in a large white-wine glass. A young bottle genuinely benefits from a 30-minute decant to blow off any reductive matchstick and let the fruit through.
Where to Drink It
Noble Rot, which champions great Loire Chenin. Bentley's for the seafood. The River Cafe for something rich and Italian.
Food Pairings
Roast turbot with brown butter, or a mature Comté. It also stands up to a mild curry or a plate of smoked fish.
