2009 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny Franc de Pied

Community Tasting Notes (11) Avg Score: 92.2 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View kingkanu's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/2/2024 - kingkanu wrote:

  Starting to hit its stride but more to come, day 2 this has a very appealing fragrance of dark cherry and tomato leaf with a touch of developing fruit, sadly the last of a case

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Julian Marshall's profile
  • Report Issue

  6/23/2022 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Tastewise, much the same flavours as in March, but with a lot more complexity - just because this time I decanted it. Lovely wine if not on the same level as a Clos de Maulevrier 07.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Julian Marshall's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/12/2022 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 91 Points

  At first, very unimpressive. The nose showed the ripe black cherry and raspberry I expected, but it was slightly vegetal and ultimately rather plain. Much the same on the palate - the trademark crunchy fruit, but a sense of coarseness mid-palate. I gave up and tried again the following night, when things had improved considerably. Then, the nose was purer, with spring flowers replacing the vegetal notes, and with a rising middle section of blueberry and loganberry that went well with the crunchy attack, before a silky, elegant finish.
  
  Clearly I should have decanted, but overall, not quite as impressive as I expected. Certainly a lovely wine which will last for several more years, but not the transcending experience I was hoping for.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Duncan's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/4/2021 - Duncan wrote: 91 Points

  Another year and another wildly varying tasting note. First of all let me see that on opening the wine struck me as unimpressive and even coarse. But these notes reflect a further tasting after 24 hours. Now it has come together beautifully. On the nose there is some decayed undergrowth aroma, reflecting its 12 years of age, but that is intriguing rather than unpleasant. On the palate it has silky tannins and a distinct nip of acidity at the finish. The fruit is...nothing primary or easy to pin down, but it is there. A long finish. Over the past decade I have had two or three vintages of this and thought it was one of the best red Loires I've ever tasted. Tonight it strikes me as an excellent, aged Saumur-Champigny...which is maybe a bit less than I once thought it was.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Duncan's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/30/2020 - Duncan wrote: 93 Points

  The colour is as opaque and youthful as the last time I had it, five years ago. The nose is very different, though. A quick burst of typical Cab Franc blackcurrant/tobacco leaf is followed by an astonishing nose of struck flint - I keep thinking gunpowder, though I'm not sure I've ever smelled gunpowder! And BLOOD - there's something of an open wound about this... which is a wine note I never imagined writing. On the palate it's dense but austere, with tobacco flavours reappearing. There's no obvious ripe fruit, and there is decent acidity and some tannin - which all amounts to that austerity, I suppose. It is a stunning and baffling wine. I love it, but its aromas and flavour perplex and challenge me. Which is a good thing! I seem to remember this develops well with air, so I look forward to the bottom half of the bottle after 24 hours or so. Cork, 12.5% (I'd have guessed more.)

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 11 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.