I hope you have some room in your cellar because the full Belargus range just landed! With a massive 12 cuvees available to purchase across the 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages there is both dry and sweet wines to please every palate.
This release of Domaine Belargus also comes with two new cuvees not yet sampled here in Australia. The Anjou 'Gordone' is a stunning new dry white that makes it debut in the 2020 vintage. As with all the Chenins of Belargus it is a complex and densely woven wine with great ageing potential. With a selection across the dry range of 2019 and 2020, this is the perfect opportunity to purchase a combination to please the palate tomorrow as well as in a few years time.
I am also excited to now have access to the sweet wine of Echarderie. This Coteaux du Layon bottle is sourced from a tiny 0.35-hectare plot on a marriage of schists and pudding sandstones in the subsoil. Ivan Massonnat explains that "the Domaine's Chaume 1er Cru plots surround the place called 'L’Echarderie,' which, until the French Revolution, was the cellar of the lords of Haute-Guerche (exploiting the Chaume vineyards for the Ronceray Abbey)."
Through a unique collection of grands crus, single-plots and monopoles, Domaine Belargus explores Anjou through all its micro-climates, using Chenin as its sole instrument. With Ivan leading Domaine Belargus to reveal all the finesse and power of the grands crus, single-plots and monopoles. On twenty-four hectares dedicated to the noble Chenin grape, the Estate cultivates some of the most renowned terroirs in Anjou with biodynamic practices. Massonnat's mission is to express the quintessence through the single-plot approach and respecting the vintage’s personality, by producing a collection of dry white wines yearly and, in exceptional years only, using the magic of botrytis to create sweet wines.
Ivan Massonnat hosts the collective young talents, Adrien Moreau and Amaury Chartier, alongside iconic Loire pioneers, Jo Pithon and Guy Bossard to build a domaine range worthy of your attention. Please enjoy this incredibly large range we now offer from Domaine Belargus.
ANJOU WINES
ANJOU NOIR 2020 1500ML - $180
A fabulous, rather delicate and finessed Chenin! 92-93 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
ANJOU "RONCERAY" 2019/2020 750ML - $143 | 2020 1500ML - $318
To me, this is a picture-book Anjou from Rochefort-sur-Loire, and it is characterized by richness, finesse and elegance. Irresistible. 13.5% alcohol. 94 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2018 review)
ANJOU "BONNES BLANCHES" 2020 750ML - $214 | 1500ML - $498
This is an exceptional Bonnes Blanches that should have great aging potential. 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2018 review)
ANJOU "VEAU" 2019/2020 - $276
This is another picture-book Chenin Blanc from Domaine Belargus, whose interplay of finesse and salinity with power and richness is mind-blowing. Natural cork. 97 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2019 review)
ANJOU "QUARTS" 2019/2020 750ML - $318 | 2020 1500ML - $762
This is another rather intellectual dry Chenin from the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation that can only be used for noble sweet wines. Natural cork. 98 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2019 review)
ANJOU "ROUERES" 2019/2020 750ML - $232 | 2020 1500ML - $535
The still-tight and austere but tensile 2019 Rouères should gain complexity and texture with bottle age and eventually might also develop some hedonistic features, but for now it pleases most of all the Riesling aficionados among us. 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2019 review).
ANJOU "GORDONE" 2020 - $93
Coming from the best terroir of Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay. The wine is densely woven, has a salty minerality and smooth mouthfeel. An excellent Chenin with an imposing presence.
SWEET WINES
COTEAUX DU LAYON "LAYON" 2018 375ML - $72 | 750ML - $138
The finish is sensationally long and stimulating. This is a great Layon to have for its own, with cheese or an apricot tart. 11.5% alcohol. 96 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
COTEAUX DU LAYON "ROUERES" 2020 - $195
Yet to be reviewed.
COTEAUX DU LAYON "ECHARDERIE" 2018 - $240
Playful and refined on the palate, this is an elegant, dense and stimulatingly salty and crystalline Chaume that offers remarkable drinkability and gastronomic talent. 94 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
QUARTS-DE-CHAUMES GRAND CRU "ROUERES" 2018 375ML - $252
It is a dense, rich and powerful, firmly structured and enormously fruity Rochefort (or better: dry Quarts-de-Chaume) from late-harvested Chenin Blanc grapes. 97 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
QUARTS-DE-CHAUMES "QUARTS" 2018 375ML - $290
Belargus's 2018 Les Quarts pairs richness and sweetness with crystalline finesse and elegance in an unrivaled way. A fabulous, irresistible grand cru! 99 points, Stephen Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.