Our story begins in the icy depths of the Château de Brézé back in early 2012. We were at La Dive Bouteille principally, to meet Thierry Germain and taste his new Domaine des Roches Neuves releases. Back then, Michel Chevré was Germain’s vineyard lieutenant—his right arm, and one who had been present since the Domaine’s first release in 1992. In clear evidence that opposites attract, what struck us immediately was the difference in personality between the two cohorts. Germain was such a bundle of energy he seemed to be jogging on the spot; the quieter Chevré seemed almost introverted by comparison.

It was Chevré that took us through the tasting that day. With only a handful of cuvées at the time, a Roches Neuves tasting in 2012 was a more modest affair than it is today. We tasted a cask sample of Germain’s upcoming Insolite, and—before moving on to the reds—Chevré asked if we would like to taste a new label. It was from a young vineyard he began planting in 2009 on a limestone-rich slope in Courchamps, to the southwest of Saumur. The wine turned out to be the first bottling from the Clos de l’Écotard, a striking organic Saumur Blanc that would continue to be made at Roches Neuves, up to and including the 2016 vintage.

When questioned on his winemaking, Thibaud Chevré invokes one of Nady Foucault’s (Clos Rougeard) favourite bon mots: “The less work I do, the happier I am”.

By mid-2017, Chevré (now joined by his son Thibaud) was in a place to part ways with his old friend and establish his own small family estate. The following year, the newly formed three-hectare Domaine would offer its first three cuvées of Saumur Blanc. Covering two of those hectares, Clos de l’Écotard has continued as the family’s emblematic cuvée. This parcel was densely planted between 2009 and 2013 with a range of vine materials, including massale selections from the vineyards of François Chidaine. This cuvée was joined by a single-foudre selection called Les Pentes, drawn from vines rooted in the rockiest, limestone-enriched parcel in the top, northeast corner of the Clos. A third bottling, La Haie Nardin, originates from a small parcel of 50-year-old vines that has been owned and farmed by the family since 1996.

As you would expect from Roches Neuves’ long-standing ex-chef de culture—and a grower who shares in the dazzling successes of that Domaine—the vineyard work here is impeccable. All the vineyards are certified organic (Ecocert) and managed biodynamically; due to the red tape involved, the Domaine has no plans to certify as biodynamic. The Clos itself is completely ploughed by the Domaine’s own draft horse, Fleur. Natural grass growth is encouraged, and the vines—instead of being trimmed at the top—are rolled a-la Roches Neuves and in the style of Burgundy progressives, Olivier Lamy and Charles Lachaux et al. Yields are restricted to four or five bunches per vine. Naturally, the grapes are harvested manually (rare in the Loire, where machine harvesting is the norm these days).

When questioned on his winemaking, Thibaud Chevré invokes one of Nady Foucault’s (Clos Rougeard) favourite bon mots: “The less work I do, the happier I am”. The grapes are whole bunch pressed in an old basket press, and fermentations are wild. Sometimes malo is partially blocked, sometimes not—it all depends on the vintage. He uses little or no sulphur during the vinification or élevage, just a touch at racking and bottling (60mg/L total). Fermentation begins in stainless steel tank, then moves to a mixture of oak foudre (incl. Stockinger) and used 500-litre barrels. To increase the complexity of his inventory, one or two new, low-chauffe barrels (from different suppliers) are purchased annually. Recently, two grès (sandstone) jars have entered the picture.

Comparisons with the Chenins of Domaine des Roches Neuves are natural and let us say off the bat—while this small and somewhat rudimentary cellar cannot yet match those wines for their level of precision, equally, the wines do not suffer by comparison. The terroir of Courchamps conveys a more powerful expression of Saumur Blanc than Germain’s limestone-reared cuvées. Add to this the low-fi, artisanal work in the cellar and you’ll find a first-class range of coolly ripe, fleshy and textural Saumur Blanc wines that lift off the tongue with great energy and mouth-watering mineral expression.