2022 Franc de Pied

Thibaud Boudignon is a recent entrant to Savennières, having started his project in 2009 and not leaving his role at Domaine de la Soucheraie until 2015. The purity of the wines of this former judo champion, Thibaud Boudignon, is impeccable. His three Savennières - La Vigne Cendrée, Clos de Fremine and Clos de la Hutte - are within spitting distance of each other. Still, each has its own personality: Clos de la Fremine, whose sandy topsoil is delicate and open, whereas Clos de la Hutte, planted on schist, tends to be fuller and more brooding. The theme throughout the range is transparency and harnessed power of the wines, which marks a contrast to bigger, bolder Savennières styles produced elsewhere. In 2021, Boudignon planted a 2.5ha site less than a minute's walk from the other parcels: Devant Le Jeu. There's a small, modern winery at the site, a few minutes drive to the south of Savennières, completed in 2016. You'll find tanks and a range of barrels in various shapes and sizes, yet oak is used not to bring flavor but texture. Boudignon has an unusual albeit practical approach in the cellar: conducting the harvest in the vineyard and holding the juice at 3˚C until all the parcels are picked so that all the work in the vineyard is done and he can concentrate solely on making the wines.

There’s no malo here – it’s cheating, according to Boudignon. While that created some steely results in 2021, the lower acidities of the hot 2022 vintage meant that this no malo approach helped to retain freshness. There’s also been a small change to the aging of the Clos de Fremine: he has moved to thicker staves to reduce oxidation and preserve fruit. Boudignon may only be a young domaine, but the clarity of the wines from young vines has made the world sit up and take note. The 2022s are gentler in their acid profile than the 2021s, but the wines are delicately textured with delectable purity.