Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Intensely golden-yellow in color, Thierry Germanin's 2019 Saumur L'Insolite opens with a deep and elegant bouquet of ripe fruits (pears) with chalky, stony and orange notes as well as some tobacco scents. Elegant and fresh on the palate, this is a refined and fruity, medium-bodied Saumur with a stimulating finish that combines mineral grip and salinity with ripe acidity. The finish reveals lots of energy and character. Tasted in June 2021.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
Marked by great châteaux built with the same tuffeau limestone that is also responsible for the excavation of so many of the famed Loire caves, Saumur is famous for its Chenin blanc based sparkling wines. Inside the Saumur region, Saumur-Champigny creates some of the Loire’s greatest Cabernet Francs.