Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume 2005 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

The sweet wines of Domaine des Baumard are from vineyards planted along the Layon river, which flows northwest into the Loire. The magnificent Quarts de Chaume is a fascinating wine, with a compelling intensity and authority of site which informs each vintage. Always long-lived, in great vintages this wine can be almost immortal, improving for decades.

Professional Ratings

98 Wine Spectator
A jaw dropper, with orange blossom, persimmon, fig and quince flavors that remain remarkably bright and light thanks to riveting acidity and a superfine, minerally finish. Pure and perfectly balanced, this refuses to break down in the mouth. The best since the monster 1995. Drink now through 2032.
95 Wine Enthusiast
From arguably the finest sweet wine vineyard in the Loire, here is a wine that is deceptively fresh on first taste. Then the huge richness kicks in, balanced with blood oranges, white fig and pear flavors, and a mineral character. Complex, this needs many years to develop; superb.
92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Given a hard act to follow in the 2004, Baumard’s 2005 Quarts de Chaume displays the most obviously botrytized, white raisin, and shriveled fruit character of any of their recent wines that I tasted. Over-ripe melon and pear, candied grapefruit, marzipan and raisin are accented by brown spices and herbal candy notes. Impressively lush and long, this should evolve interestingly over up to two decades, but will doubtless remain relatively plump and baroque in character.

Domaine des Baumard

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Domaine des Baumard Winemaker Florent Baumard Winery Image

Domaine des Baumard Chenin Blanc Grapes Winery Image

Domaine des Baumard Harvest Time at Domaine des Baumard Winery Image

Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Winery Image

The Baumard family has been wine growing wine at Rochefort in the Anjou for centuries, working with the noble Chenin in what has long been accepted as its natural home, the slate-covered hillside vineyards along the Loire and Layton rivers. In 1953, the Baumard family acquired a vineyard in the Quarts de Chaume, and in 1968, purchased substantial acreage in Savennieres. Jean Baumard, an enologist and educator, as well as grower, introduced significant innovations to the winemaking region, bringing the dry wines of Savennieres, as well as his sweet wines, Quarts de Chaumes and Coteaux du Layon back to prominence. Now in retirement, further innovation has been carried on by Jean's son, Florent.

Chenin Blanc

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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.

Anjou

Loire, France

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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.

SSR126968_2005 Item# 126968