2019 Roches Neuves Saumur Blanc Clos de l'Echelier

About This Wine

The l’Échelier Blanc is always the most incisively mineral of Roches Neuves' whites. Clos de l’Échelier is a 1.8ha clos (a walled vineyard) that has hard limestone soils. The majority of the clos is planted with Cabernet Franc. The very small amount of Chenin comes from sixty-year-old vines. In a typical vintage, the total Chenin production is just two oval casks and comes to somewhere around 1,200 bottles per vintage.

The small amount of Clos de l’Échelier Blanc that's produced is absolutely thrilling. It boasts a finely etched minerality, serious verve, and soaring intensity. Many people taste Roches Neuves and reference Burgundy. In this case, we're definitely in Corton-Charlemagne territory. The 2019 Clos de l’Échelier Blanc combines a fine thread of acidity with beautifully textural and mineral-laden concentration. The profile is a vivid, cool-fruited one and that makes the level of intensity all the more interesting. In 2019, the Clos de l’Échelier Blanc really underscores the extraordinary clarity, elegance, and delicacy that are Roches Neuves' calling cards and established them as one of the Loire's elites.