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 above), 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.
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