Thierry Germain is one of the Loire Valley’s most pensive and ever-experimenting vignerons. Whereas some winemakers who can be described this way produce eccentric cuvées, Thierry’s Cabernet Franc bottlings are incredibly pure, pretty, and refined. They demonstrate how Saumur Champigny is among the world’s very best terroirs, alongside Chinon and Bourgueil, when discussing red wines made from this grape variety. Thierry has honed his craft over decades to get to this point. After moving from his native Saint-Émilion to Saumur in the 1990s, he trained with the legendary Foucault brothers of Clos Rougeard. Then he set off on his own, spending years tweaking his farming approach and earning the respect of the locals, who were initially skeptical of an outsider from Bordeaux. He has pursued organic and biodynamic viticulture for more than a decade, and it shows in the freshness and purity of his wines. The 2023 vintage has its trademark elegance, with notes of blackberries, forest, and graphite.
