Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced for the first time, the straw-yellow 2019 Anjou Noir blends different south- and north-facing schist vineyards in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay and opens with a finely intense, even complex, pure and coolish schist bouquet with ripe and concentrated lemon and stone fruit aromas. Aged on the lees for a year, the 2019 also has white floral aromas and a serious terroir expression. The stony notes become even more intense and pure with more aeration, and I absolutely like that. Lush and round yet very elegant on the palate, with dense fruit, a fine acidity/tannin structure and a long and aromatic finish, this is a full-bodied, concentrated and perhaps more textured yet also more tannic dry Chenin compared to the, for now, lovely puristic and fresh 2020 successor. This is a serious terroir wine that I would cellar for a few years and serve for many years.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Domaine Belargus Anjou Noir Blanc is authentic and exciting. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits alluring aromas and flavors of savory spices, dried leaves, and tart citrus. Pair it with grilled oysters in a mix with Shiitake mushrooms. (Tasted: June 20, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
Known for its delightful whites and sparkling Pétillant and Mousseux, made predominantly of Chenin blanc, Anjou has a temperate and dry maritime climate. The region's limited temperature variations are admiringly referred to locally as the “douceur angevine,” or “Anjou sweetness.” Fruit forward rosé and red wines from Cabernet Franc and Gamay merit Anjou its success within the Loire subregions.