Domaine des Baumard: The Wines of Quarts de Chaume
There is not really anything controversial in the methods for Savennières or, to the best of my knowledge, the Coteaux du Layon. Where things get a little unusual is in the techniques used by Florent in making his Quarts de Chaume. In order to grasp this nettle, let me set the scene with an account of how Florent’s approach to the vinification of his Quarts de Chaume has developed over the last few decades.
The major difference between Domaine des Baumard and other domaines in the appellation comes in Florent’s history of using freezing technology in the production of the wine. I once described this freezing process as cryo-extraction, a term with which I am reasonably familiar, but was subsequently corrected by Florent; this is, he says, not cryo-extraction but cryo-selection. Florent regards the process as no more than an additional tri, in his mind no different to workers passing through the vineyard, selecting ripe or botrytised fruit, leaving unripe or non-botrytised fruit on the vine. In cooling the fruit he looks for the less ripe, less sugar-rich grapes to freeze first, and when this is achieved he presses the fruit, thereby extracting juice from the ripe and richer grapes, whereas those less ripe berries which have frozen solid contribute nothing. He describes the juice obtained when pressing the frozen fruit as particularly clear, filtered, says Florent, by its passage through the gateau de marc, the pressed cake of fruit-solids and ice. So according to Florent the process not only selects, it seemingly purifies as well. Once finished the marc, complete with many unpressed frozen berries, is removed from the press and discarded.
