Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume (375ML half-bottle) 2012
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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.
Florent recommends serving Quarts de Chaume as an apertif with foie gras, rillette canapes or chicken liver, blue cheeses such as Roquefort and Gorgonzola, and 'white desserts,' such as poached pears or peaches with creme anglaise.
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If you love chenin, as I do, do yourself a favor and pour a glass of this wine. You’ll be welcomed into a gracious aristocratic pleasure of the Loire and, maybe, as the silken grace of this vinous bliss threatens to leave you but just keeps lasting for minutes, you’ll think to yourself, this golden beauty is one reason why it’s great to be alive. Or maybe you’ll think of the best peach you can remember tasting, concentrated in its sweetness yet so deft and elegant it simply won’t leave your memory.
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Wine Spectator
Unctuous, with a forward core of creamed yellow apple, pear and mango notes, underscored by warm pie-crust and ginger accents. Maintains a plump, open feel through the flattering finish. Drink now through 2019.
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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.
Praised for its stately Renaissance-era chateaux, the picturesque Loire valley produces pleasant wines of just about every style. Just south of Paris, the appellation lies along the river of the same name and stretches from the Atlantic coast to the center of France.
The Loire can be divided into three main growing areas, from west to east: the Lower Loire, Middle Loire, and Upper/Central Loire. The Pay Nantais region of the Lower Loire—farthest west and closest to the Atlantic—has a maritime climate and focuses on the Melon de Bourgogne variety, which makes refreshing, crisp, aromatic whites.
The Middle Loire contains Anjou, Saumur and Touraine. In Anjou, Chenin Blanc produces some of, if not the most, outstanding dry and sweet wines with a sleek, mineral edge and characteristics of crisp apple, pear and honeysuckle. Cabernet Franc dominates red and rosé production here, supported often by Grolleau and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sparkling Crémant de Loire is a specialty of Saumur. Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are common in Touraine as well, along with Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay and Malbec (known locally as Côt).
The Upper Loire, with a warm, continental climate, is Sauvignon Blanc country, home to the world-renowned appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pinot Noir and Gamay produce bright, easy-drinking red wines here.