2018 Thibaud Boudignon Savennieres Clos Fremine

Based in Savennieres, Thibaud Boudignon is one of the new young stars of the Loire Valley. In addition to his prime plots in Savennieres, Thibaud also owns two small vineyards across the river on the south side of the Loire in the Anjou. Thibaud has worked with Philippe Charlopin in Gevrey Chambertin, Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux (amongst others) and also in Australia before settling in the Loire, thereby building up a wealth of experience without having been born into a wine producing family. Working organically in the vineyards he harvests by hand making successive tries throughout each vineyard ending with yields that are much lower than the appellation rules allow. In the winery the grapes are whole bunch pressed with no settling and the juice is kept cold before starting a long slow fermentation. He vinifies with natural yeasts and ages the wines on lees with minimal SO2 in a mixture of barrels ranging from 300-600 litres.

This Clos Fremine site adjoins Clos de la Hutte separated only by stone walls surrounding each Clos and a tiny road between and is planted to 1.5ha of vines from massale selection, with the original material coming from vines of more than 100 years old. Sloping towards the Loire the soils have a fine cover of sand blown over the underlying schist across many millenia which conveys a silky elegance to the resulting wine, giving more immediacy and enabling this wine to be appreciated in its youth.

Other Reviews....
Thibaud planted the vineyard only in 2014 and aged his 2018 Savennières Clos de Frémine in 350- and 500-liter barrels (10% new). The result is stunning. The wine opens with a dense and finely yeasty nose with deeper layers of crushed crystalline rocks, perfectly ripe and fleshy Chenin fruit and very discreet hints of mocha and nougat. Generous but playful, refined and elegant on the palate, this is a textural and stimulatingly salty young Savennières with lush fruit and lingering, palate-tickling and stimulating salinity that gives a crisp, pure, almost Riesling-like and bitter finish. It is a remarkably fresh and filigreed but textured Chenin for such a warm vintage. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in January 2022. Drink 2022-2032.
91 points
Stephan Reinhardt - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate