2022 Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny La Marginale, Loire Valley

Crafted from vines planted on clay-calcareous soils, the 2022 Saumur Champigny La Marginale, matured for one year in 25-hectoliter foudres, reveals a delicate, deep bouquet of menthol, rose, peony and leaves. Medium-bodied, layered and textured, it has a vertical sensation with good depth and powdery tannins, concluding with a long, ethereal finish. More austere than the 2021, give it time to digest its élevage.

92 points Yohan Castaing robertparker.com

Biodynamic. La Marginale is drawn from parcels on the clay-limestone soils of Fossés de Chaintre (the lieux-dits of Les Dares and Clos Maurice) and from a small parcel of old vines on Turonian limestone in the famous Les Poyeux. It's made from some of the estate’s oldest Cabernet Franc vines. Perhaps more than any other red, La Marginale encapsulates the Germain style of elegance and soaring intensity. La Marginale is raised in a 25-hectolitre foudre and matures for 12 months before finishing in three-year-old Burgundy barrels. Since 2013, Germain has employed shorter macerations with just one or two punchdowns to let the wine infuse. As a result, the wines have even more balance, with the kind of finesse and precision rarely found in reds of the Loire.

The nose offers a captivating cocktail of rose, graphite and star anise—scents which seamlessly flow onto a layered palate that lingers beautifully. It’s the most compact and deep wine so far. Not too long ago, the late Josh Raynolds wrote that many of Germain’s Saumur-Champigny’s “taste more like Burgundy than a lot of Pinot Noirs on the market.”

Winemaker Thierry Germain, one of the most respected figures in the Loire Valley, is known for his dedication to biodynamic farming and low-intervention winemaking. For La Marginale, grapes are hand-harvested at optimal ripeness and undergo a gentle maceration to extract fine tannins and vibrant aromatics. Fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts, followed by aging in large neutral oak barrels to preserve the wine’s purity and texture.

This wine is an excellent match for roasted duck, lamb, or earthy vegetarian dishes such as mushroom tart or lentil stew. It also pairs beautifully with aged goat cheeses or charcuterie. While approachable in its youth with decanting, La Marginale has the structure and complexity to age gracefully for 10-15 years, evolving with remarkable finesse.