Savennières Roche aux Moines

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Roche aux Moines hillside corresponds to a rocky spur of the Armorican Massif overlooking the Loire, within a delimited area of approximately 35 hectares.
• The soils derive principally from schistose and schisto-arenaceous formations of the Upper Ordovician to Lower Devonian, with localised rhyolite volcanic dykes that outcrop at the surface and gave the lieu-dit its name.
• The soils of the hillsides are generally shallow, of low fertility, and very stony, with a high drainage capacity and a limited water-holding reserve.
• The Mauges massifs to the west temper the oceanic climate through a foehn effect, with mean annual rainfall of 600 millimetres at Roche aux Moines compared with more than 800 millimetres on the Mauges hills.
• The Loire acts as a thermal regulator on the immediate hillside and encourages, during the harvest period, the formation of morning mists essential to the development of Botrytis cinerea.

• The name 'Roche aux Moines' appears around 1130, when the estate of the Knight Buhard was given to the monks of the Abbaye Saint-Nicolas d'Angers, who planted vines there, and it has been in continuous use since the twelfth century.
• Pierre Guillory pioneered trellising on iron wire and slate posts to promote ventilation of the Chenin grape bunches, as well as the use of sulphur and early disbudding.

• The appearance is pale yellow, sometimes golden with green highlights, and the complex nose often combines floral aromas with fruited notes lifted by a touch of minerality.
• The palate is full and suave with a hint of freshness that always keeps any heaviness at bay, and when noble rot develops, age-worthy wines made from fermentable sugars build over time a complex bouquet linked to Botrytis cinerea.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 7 octobre 2022
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — InterLoire