La Roche aux Moines (the monks’ rock) is a cru or sub-appellation of Savennières in the Loire valley wine region of France which produces dry white wines from the Chenin Blanc grape. It became an Appellation Contrôllée in its own right in 2011, with a handful of active producers.
La Roche aux Moines covers around 33 hectares (acres), though only about two-thirds of this is planted. Entire production across the various domains is around 43,000 bottles per year.
It sits on gentle, south-east-facing slopes on mostly schist soil with seams of sand and volcanic rock, overlooking the Loire river, to the northeast of Savennières town, and borders the other Savennières cru, Coulée de Serrant. These are thought to have been founded as one vineyard in the year 1130 by Cistercian monks living in the monastery which still stands at the bottom of the vineyards; the property existed as a combined entity until the time of the French Revolution.
Achieving full ripeness without rot can be a problem in Savennières, but here the slopes catch the sun and give some protection from cold North winds, while staying breezy enough to moderate the occurrence of botrytis.
Under appellation rules the winegrowers must all farm without the use of chemical herbicides, and most are farming organically or biodynamically, or are in conversion to onr or the other. Yields are kept well below the official maximum of 3000 litres per hectare and pickers make successive passes through the vineyard to achieve sufficient ripeness whilst keeping an eye on levels of botrytis. Wines are not chaptalized and must be estate bottled after a minimum aging period of ten months.
Within the boundaries of La Roche aux Moines one or two producers make small amounts of red wine from the Cabernet Franc grape. However these are classified as Anjou Villages.
