Domaine des Baumard, 2013 Update
It can take some time to taste your way around Anjou. There are an increasing number of domaines of interest, some new, some long-established. Some are ploughing a new furrow, letting things happen ‘naturally’ in the cellar, their wines rich, golden and oxidative (or sometimes plain oxidised), while others do things ‘traditionally’, and at the best addresses the wines that result are pure and precise, their harvest of Chenin Blanc nicely tamed and shaped by their work. Some specialise in one particular appellation, with Savennières being a particular hotspot for recent incomers, but many are what I call generalists, turning out a range of wines, of all colours, with varying degrees of residual sugar and occasionally some bubbles too.
It can be an exciting region in which to taste and tour. It can also be quite tiring though, depending on how much you are trying to squeeze into one day. And so my feet were beginning to ache when I came to Domaine des Baumard (which, for those unfamiliar with the wines of the Baumard family, falls into the long-established, traditional and generalist camps). I met Florent Baumard (pictured), and over an opening glass of La Calèche, a non-vintage Vin de France that features Chenin Blanc blended with a little Chardonnay, I began to explore the recent developments chez Baumard.
The 2012 Quarts de Chaume
As was the case elsewhere talk soon turned to the trials of the 2012 vintage. It had not been an easy one for the region. First I should quickly recap events at other domaines, starting with Pithon-Paillé; Jo Pithon and his family had a terrible time with their Quarts de Chaume vines. Having left some fruit on the vines with the intention of picking later, for a sweet wine, he and his team watched with sadness as the incessant rain reduced the sugar concentrations in the fruit, dashing any such aspirations. The best we can hope for in 2012 from Pithon-Paillé and their Quarts de Chaume vines is a dry wine, another incarnation of the Anjou Blanc, L’Ecart, perhaps. It was a similar story at Château Pierre-Bise and Domaine de la Bergerie, with both Claude Papin and Yves Guégniard failing to produce anything of note from their Quarts de Chaume vines. Across the appellation, the vintage was something of a wash-out.
