Domaine des Baumard: The Savennières Vineyards
Domaine des Baumard is tucked away in the village of Rochefort-sur-Loire, which lies at the northern end of the Coteaux du Layon appellation, just a little way north of the Quarts de Chaume vineyards and the Layon itself. It is not too difficult to find, being situated on the Rue de l’Abbaye, just to the left of the huge church which dominates the village; the dull grey lettering adherent to the stone wall, next to the large gateway, informs you of your arrival. Beyond the gateway, and along the immaculately gravelled drive, you find the old Logis de la Giraudière, acquired by the family in 1959. Here you will find extensive cellars and a fine tasting room, which features an impressive if rather faded 18th-century mural. Like many such ancient works the reds, golds and richer colours have faded with time, leaving just an array of blue, colder hues. Even so, it certainly reinforces the impression that there is history running in the walls here.
The Baumard approach to viticulture is a notable one, and it does make it easy to spot the Baumard vines in any given appellation (this is true of Savennières and Quarts de Chaume). While many suggested that the vine had to suffer to produce good grapes, Jean Baumard always felt the opposite; instead he believed the vines should be widely spaced, to reduce competition, and then trained high, to capture as much of the sun’s energy as was possible. As a consequence the Baumard vines are trained in a fashion Florent terms vignes hautes et larges (sometimes abbreviated to VHL).
The larges refers to the distance between the vines, a remarkable 3 metres between the rows (this is very widely spaced, 2 metres or less would be the norm), while between each vine in the row there are just 80 centimetres (this is very compact, 1 metre would be more typical). The hautes, meanwhile, refers to the high trellising system employed, taking the vines to a height of more than 2 metres, the object being to obtain a large surface area of foliage. During the vegetative period they see limited leaf-thinning along their base, but otherwise there is little intervention in the vineyard at this time, not even a topping-off of the upper shoots as they reach for the sky. Between the rows, the soil is alternatively ploughed and grassed over, a methodology the Baumards have adhered to for well over 30 years.
