Thierry Germain Saumur Blanc I'Insolite 2021

Organic. In 2021, this bottling sports the Thierry Germain name instead of the domaine label because it contains purchased fruit to supplement the usual source, where yields were dramatically reduced. Over the years, this white has emerged as one of the Loire Valley's purest and most exciting Chenin Blancs, and this edition is no different. L'Insolite's fruit traditionally comes from two densely planted vineyards on clay and limestone soils riddled with sandstone and flint. These lieux-dits—Les Cerpes and Saint-Vincent—lie close to the town of Saumur, where the oldest vines are now 90 years old.

Germain presses the whole bunches long and slow before the juice naturally ferments in 1,200-litre Austrian (Stockinger) ovals and 600-litre casks (ex-Alphonse Mellot). The wine rests on fine lees, slowly building texture for another 12 months before bottling. Germain thinks of this wine as the Loire's answer to German Riesling, hence the name, which means 'unusual'. The cooler 2021 season has gifted a scintillating L'Insolite: a wine of laser-like focus with racy, grapefruit-charged flesh entwined with a nip of reduction and salty bite. It drinks like excellent young Chablis.

Over the years, this white has emerged as one of the Loire Valley’s purest and most exciting Chenin Blancs. A cooler vintage it may be, and yet the wine’s laser-focused energy is balanced by low-yield density and tongue-wrapping texture. There are fleshy, ripe orchard fruits and white florals on the nose, underpinned by a saline accent. When the wine hits your palate you get an intense jolt of citrus-charged flesh entwined with smoky reduction and a more salty bite. A scintillating L’Insolite.