Domaine aux Moines - 'Roche aux Moines' - Chenin Blanc - Savennières, Loire Valley, FR - 2022

Satellite's Hot Take

Truly one of the most classic Chenin Blancs in the Loire and an essential piece of kit for understanding the grape and the region. It also drinks like rock and roll!

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Biodynamic Practicing Vineyard 9.6 hectares of Chenin blanc grown on hillsides along the Loire River. Soil Schist with sandstone and clay Viticulture Yields are kept extremely low, usually around 30 h/h, and all work is done by hand including the harvest which occurs slowly over a few weeks (5-6 "tries" or pickings). Will be certified organic in the 2012 vintage! Vinification Fermented with indigenous yeasts in tank. Aging Aged in a combo of tank and cask (220 and 400-liter, mostly used), with usually 65-75% tank and the rest wood. Production 1,500 cases Ratings Publication Vinous Rating 91 Description The 2022 Savennières Roche aux Moines from Tessa Laroche at Domaine aux Moines is surprisingly fresh, considering the dry, warm conditions of the vintage. There's a liveliness and freshness where others have struggled with heaviness. A subtle autolysis-derived pastry flavor joins ripe apple, pear and herbal notes. In this vintage, there are two bottlings of this wine: one with SO2 and one without, with no distinction on the label! Tasting the two alongside each other, the no-sulfur-added approach is more open with more obvious fruit and pastry compared with a tighter, more closed expression where sulfur dioxide was added at bottling. - Rebecca Gibb

Notes on the Producer

With roots going back to the middle-ages, the Domaine aux Moines, one of the two pearls of Anjou, needs little introduction. Yet, things are quietly evolving at this prestigious estate with Tessa Laroche firmly at the helm and her eyes set on the future. The commitment to biodynamic farming, the attention to detail, the respect of history while welcoming of new practices are all enhancing the attribute of this extraordinary vineyard of Savennières Roche-Aux-Moines. The best is probably yet to come and that’s no small feat.