One can find some excellent values here.
Thierry GERMAIN/Domaine des ROCHES NEUVES
Germain is certified organic and biodynamic.
2015 Saumur-Champigny Clos de l’Échelier
This wine is light but dense and its texture is silky. The silkiness suggests lower acidity but there is no lack of freshness here. The wine has mulberry fruit. I’d guess this wine best drunk over the next 5-8 years, although it certainly is possible that it can age longer. 13% stated alcohol. Lot CESC15. 88/B
2015 Saumur-Champigny Franc de Pied
This wine is from ungrafted vines (“Franc de Pied”). The nose is subdued and imprecise at this moment. The mouth is medium-weight and dense with dark fruits that show little differentiation but good minerality and underlying acidity. The wine has finesse and wiriness, but it lacks real depth for the moment. I’d guess this wine best drunk over the next five years or so. 13% stated alcohol. Lot LF 15. 87/B
Charles JOGUET
2014 Chinon Les Petites Roches
From vines about 35 years-old, this wine is medium-weight with plenty of blackberry fruit, but it lacks grip and depth. Still, it’s fine for current drinking. Lot L R14M1. 13% stated alcohol. 86/C+
2014 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos
This is, simply, a great bottle of Chinon. The spiced dark fruits are intense, and the wine is medium-weight and concentrated but balanced. There’s also a fair amount of tannin here, though, so I’d put this wine aside for 5-7 years and certainly it will age well for considerably longer than that. Lot L V116. 13% stated alcohol. 92/A
Clotilde et René-Noël LEGRAND
2014 Saumur-Champigny Les Lizières
This is the entry-level of four red wines that Legrand produces. Raised in stainless steel, it has easily-approachable dark fruits with a silky texture in a medium-light body. It’s not expensive and highly enjoyable for what it is. 12.5% stated alcohol. Lot .141. 88/B
Frédéric MABILEAU
2015 Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Les Rouillières
This wine is entirely from Cabernet Franc 25-40 years-old grown on warm, gravelly soils. It takes some time to open up, but eventually shows dark and red cherry flavors with a slight earthy touch in a fairly concentrated body. It’s a wine for fairly strong foods, such as steak and other beef options, as well as lamb. Certified organic. 12.5% stated alcohol. 87/B
La MADONE/Gilles BONNEFOY
2016 Côtes du Forez Gamay sur Volcan
This wine is from a mixture of young Gamay vines and 30 year-old Gamay vines on volcanic soils. It is fresh with spicy dark fruit aromas and flavors that are more mineral and less “fruity" than I find in Beaujolais. The texture is firm and the wine shows overall very good balance. No chaptalization here. 12% stated alcohol. Certified organic and biodynamic. 89/A
La PORTE SAINT JEAN/ Sylvain DITTIÈRE
2015 Saumur-Champigny
Based on the few vintages of this wine that I’ve tried, this is a producer to watch. This wine has dark fruits and soy elements with a medium-weight, dense, smooth, chewy body. It’s good for drinking over the next several years and has the balance that could lead to extended aging. 12.5% stated alcohol. 90/A-
Domaine SÉROL
2016 Côtes Roannaise Les Originelles
This is but one of several Gamay-based reds that Sérol produces. The vines here are on granite soils. They are Gamay Saint-Romain, a variant of the Gamay à jus noir of the Beaujolais. The wine is medium-weight with good acidity and pronounced, deep dark berry fruit. 12% stated alcohol. 87/A-
Famille VAILLANT/Domaine des GRANDES VIGNES
2017 Vin de France Pineau d’Aunis
This wine lacks the edgy white pepper aromas and flavors I typically find in Pineau d’Aunis, but it is exuberant in its red fruits silky, medium-weight body. It’s not complex, but it is a joyous wine. Certified organic and biodynamic. No sulfites added. 13% stated alcohol. Lot L01317. 88/A
Cave VERDIER-LOGEL
Certified organic.
2016 Côtes-du-Forez Les Gourmets
This wine, as with all the estate’s reds, is from the Gamay grape used in Beaujolais. This cuvée is from granitic soils (the others are from volcanic soils) and is a selection of the estate’s oldest vines, and at an altitude of 400-600 meters. The wine is medium-weight with forward, pleasing strawberry fruit. Not a wine for contemplation, but good with meats and cheeses in rustic settings. 12% stated alcohol. 87/A-
2016 Côtes-du-Forez Le Volcanique
As the name implies, this wine is from volcanic soils, specifically basalt. The fruit is darker and saltier and the wine is perhaps even more immediate than the Gourmets above. 12.5% stated alcohol. 86/B
2016 Côtes-du-Forez Poycelan
For this cuvée, we have 100 year-old vines on volcanic soils. The result is a velvet texture in a medium-weight body with exuberant red fruits. 13.5% stated alcohol. 89/A