“Much of the finest Cabernet Franc from Saumur-Champigny is now being made by Thierry Germain at Domaine des Roches Neuves. After growing up at his familys Chteau Yon-Figeac, in Saint-milion, Germain arrived in Loire from Bordeaux in 1991. He immediately became a leader in organic viticulture. By 1998, he was farming organically, and by 2002 he had the first certified biodynamic vineyards in Saumur-Champigny. (Today, a third of the vineyards in the appellation are organic.) Germain suggested that his farming has transcended science at this point: Three years ago, I stopped all analysis, because it takes out all my emotion. Currently, the estate is 28 hectares, with red wine making up about 85% of the 120,000 bottles annually produced. Cabernet Franc is a rustic variety, Germain says. Its vegetal, its volatile and its important to work around that. For me, Cabernet Franc, over 14% it loses all freshness and typicity. After 14% you lose the terroir. The elegance, precision and purity of Germains Cabernet Franc are something else entirely, almost Burgundian.“ Jason Wilson, Vinous.com, July 2020