Thierry Germain’s flagship white cuvée, this displays a pale golden colour in the glass. It has an intense nose, just as I expect Clos Romans to be, fresh with lemon and herby acidity, crushed flint minerals, slate and fragrant white flowers, with subtle touches of rose petal, verbena and white pepper. This continues with a beautifully tense start to the palate, with juicy fruit, sweet plum and yellow cherry, which is nicely balanced by the wine’s fresh and bitter phenolics and its tense acidity. Bitter, still rather primary, with a raw bite of grapefruit, a saline liquid-stone minerality, and a taut, gripped finish, this has simply stunning potential. A beautiful example of white Saumur, full of potential. Give this ten (or twenty?) years in the cellar;it should cope with ease. Brilliant. The alcohol on the label is 13.5%.

More mineral and tense than the 2020, the 2019 Saumur Blanc Clos Romans reveals aromas of flowers, acacia, crushed stones, lemon, ripe orchard fruits and spices. Medium to full-bodied, round and precise, it’s dense and concentrated with a delicate, tense mid-palate and stunning dry extracts. It’s a seamless, complete wine of compelling purity and maturity. - Yohan Castaing