2022 Roches Neuves Saumur Champigny La Marginale

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.”