Thanks Markus, I just got a couple of 2012s after reading this - sounds promising! I’ve never tasted the Mémoires cuvée yet although I do have some 2014, 16 and 18, so it will be fun!
What a neat vertical! I hope it suits your tastes, Julian. Based on this bottle, I’m apt to open the next one in a couple of years and drink the rest over the next several.
I had opened a first bottle in the middle stages of Covid, which showed me how much my taste had gone - it was totally featureless. So I finally plucked up the courage to open another last night - and really enjoyed it.
Markus - that description of the nose is spot-on! Nothing to add whatsoever. As for the taste, I’m along the same lines too. After reading your note, I decanted mine a few hours earlier, which I think helped a lot with the depth and weight - mine was surprisingly profound, starting with that crunchy black fruit, then zooming off into the distance with a really winsome blend of raspberry and blueberry, but not at all sweet, just pure and - sorry - authentic. The finish was equally impressive, accelerating away rather than braking. But again, the lasting impression is the depth of the fruit. This is not the depth of cassis that a Pauillac can have, since the fruit here was ultimately more raspberry than blackcurrant orientated, just a different kind of depth. Also, the purity - the fruit does not have that cloying sweetness you get with other “modern” wines.
2012 is what it is, and this was perhaps a little clipped compared to other vintages from Roches-Neuves, but I was really impressed by my first Mémoires - I can only imagine how good it will be in a better vintage.
Nice call! Glad the note was of some help. Cheers!
I had a bottle of the 2014 of this (the Thierry Germain Les Memoires) a while ago and thought it was fantastic. Granted it is a lot “cleaner” and less sour/green than some old school Loire, but the varietal character was very clear. It was very clean, linear, crisp, and tangy (as Robert said it had a tartness to it), humming with energy and a sense of hidden depths underneath. I agree with Robert that the complexity wasn’t unwound yet but it had a focus, precision, drive, and minerality to it that lifted it way above a $20 wine.
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Next up… 2020 Memoires.
Much more serious then the FDP. Electric and earthy with fresh picked bramble berry, clove, molasses, and coal tar on the nose. Full bodied with dark fruit, licorice, menthol. Medium-plus acidity with a long, zesty finish tinged with crushed stone, tobacco, baking spice, and preserved fruit (94-96).
These are my first tastes since their early efforts and I do think the winemaking has come into form 
. I think they’re very exciting wines and well in line with the current asking price.
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