The 2022 Domaine Belargus Savennières "Les Gaudrets" is on its way to Australia as we speak! Landing on our shores in 2 weeks is this stunning representation of Anjou Noir full of beautiful acidity and a refined palate.
"Les Gaudrets" is a cuvee that embody the terroir profile most commonly found in the appellation area. From a group of plots located on the heights of the Savennières village, planted on sandy soils above black schist this cuvée expresses freshness and the terroir's typical floral bouquet. When enjoying a glass you will be encapsulated by aromas of white flowers and white fruits which open onto an enveloping mouth, carried by a fine acidity and a light bitterness.
"Domaine Belargus is a reliable source of intense and pure wines, clearly reflecting their schist soils." - Yohan Castaing
As a 24-hectare estate located in and around Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay Ivan Massonnat produces excellent wines from a range of soils. Labelled organic, the estate produced Savennières, Quarts-de-Chaume and Anjou wines. An established and well loved sector of his range is the sweet wines of the Quarts-de-Chaumes and Coteaux du Layon appellations. The selection we have today by Belargus are full of intense, elegant, noble and refreshing bouquets ready for your enjoyment.
It is the perfect pairing to begin with a bottle of dry Chenin Blanc from Anjou, to conclude your evening with a small glass of Quarts-de-Chaumes. I am excited to see the evolution of this domaine that exploded onto the market a couple of years ago with a 100 point wine!
TASTING NOTES
SAVENNIERES "GAUDRETS" 2022
A group of plots located on the heights of the Savennières village, planted on sandy soils above black schist, “Les Gaudrets” embody the terroir profile most commonly found in the appellation area.
The 2019 Gaudrets is not shy to come forward in a line up of Savennieres. It has the ferocity of female gladiator throwing a javelin: wild, firm and uncompromising. It is clear on its winemaking inputs with its impressive smoky oak and flinty reductive character, and yet it just about gets away with it, with its silky concentration and focus. The pithy grapefruit-like fruit, floral and almost spicy characters stand up to the winemaking. It’s hardly subtle at this young age, but it is super young and has plenty of tension. 93 points, Rebecca Gibb, Vinous (2019 review).
ANJOU "QUARTS" 2019/2020
'Les Quarts' is the original plot, facing south, which gave its name to the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation. As a matter of fact, until the French Revolution, the lords of Haute Guerche, tenants of the Chaume vineyards, used to pay the nuns of the Ronceray Abbey with 'the best quarters of the harvest'. Thus, the name 'Quarts-de- Chaume' was born," writes Ivan Massonnat. The soils are based on Precambrian schists, which, according to Massonnat, bring finesse and length to this cuvée. Sourced from a 3.08-hectare plot, the citrus-colored 2019 Anjou Sec Quarts opens with a deep and intense yet pure, refined and elegant, noble and aromatic bouquet of perfectly ripe and concentrated stone fruits, jelly fruits, lemons, grapefruits, salts and crystalline rocks. Crystalline and fresh on the elegant palate, this is a full-bodied, intense, dense and extract-sweet yet also refined and stimulating Chenin with noble citrus fruit bitters and fine tannins on the long, tight and intense finish. This is reduced power paired with finesse and elegance. Far too young to be served at this stage, this is a promising, very intense yet still restrained Quarts that is not as austere as the Rouères and not as rich and expansive as the Veau but possibly something in between. There are graphite notes on the aftertaste. 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" 2020
"'Les Rouères' is one of the three plots listed in the original decree creating the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation, on the eastern side," reports Ivan Massonat. "The soils, thin and hot, rest on pudding sandstone—sand concretions and rolled gravel—accumulating the heat of the day and restoring it at night. This solar terroir gives birth to charming, ample and complex wines," finds Massonnat. His golden-colored 2019 Anjou Sec Rouères, from a 2.96-hectare plot, opens with a deep, intense and rich yet immediately also crystalline, fresh and concentrated bouquet of ripe and warm fruits intertwined with refreshing and piquant grapefruit and smoked speck aromas (think warm baked dates wrapped in bacon). The Rouères seems cooler, more crystalline and purer than the expansive, rich and narcotic 2019 Veau. Accordingly, the introduction on the palate is crystalline and full of vibrant minerality, purity and fine tannins, whereas the fruit is more lean and bitter, intertwined with tannins, heroic acidity and salts. The finish is still tight and reminiscent of candied lemons and a tequila-like salt and lemon mix. The 2019 Rouères is much less Dionysian at this early stage but Appollinese. The nose is almost a bit dusty, pure and stony as it is, and the oh-so-salty and piquant palate is built on finesse and mineral freshness rather than richness and power. This is definitely a wine to cellar for 10 or 20 years, and certainly longer. 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. Natural cork. 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. (2019 review).
SWEET WINES
COTEAUX DU LAYON "ROUERES" 2020
The 2020 Roueres is a sweet wine but not unctuous, it has a sense of freshness and a bitter twist, providing a clean, long finish despite its 150-odd g/L of residual sugar. It is almost tart and offers an herbal, aperitif-like character, combining celery, marmalade, toffee and smoke notes. It's already approachable, but its structural tension and sweetness points to longevity if you wait. Quite frankly, it's a triumph this was even made after rains wiped Les Quarts parcel out. It might not be typical Quarts de Chaume - neither as rich or luscious - hence why they've decided to label it as Coteaux du Layon even though they could legally have still called it Quarts de Chaumes, displaying the integrity of this producer. 92 points - Rebecca Gibb, Vinous.
COTEAUX DU LAYON "ECHARDERIE" 2018
Sourced from a tiny, south-east facing 0.35-hectare plot on a marriage of schists and pudding sandstones in the subsoil, the dark-golden colored 2018 Coteaux-du-Layon Chaume Premier Cru Écharderie opens with an intense and elegant, noble and refreshing bouquet of citrus fruits, such as limes, lemons and oranges, intertwined with honey and stone fruit as well as stony aromas, beautifully pure and precise. Playful and refined on the palate, this is an elegant, dense and stimulatingly salty and crystalline Chaume that offers remarkable drinkability and gastronomic talent due to its fine piquancy on the salty-grippy finish that doesn't take away the sweetness but lifts it, making the wine's lovely ripe fruit component a fine pairing with many dishes, not only from the Asian cuisines. Fine bitters on the aftertaste. Very stimulating indeed.
According to Ivan Massonnat, "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)." 94 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
QUARTS-DE-CHAUMES GRAND CRU "ROUERES" 2018 375ML
Located on the eastern side, Les Rouères is one of the three plots listed in the original decree creating the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru appellation, says Ivan Massonnat. The shallow and warm soils rest on pudding sandstone (sand concretions and rolled gravel), which accumulate the heat of the day and restore it at night. This solar terroir gives birth to fruit-intense, complex and ample wines, and the Belarus 2018 Anjou Les Rouères is a great example. The intensely straw-yellow wine offers an intensely aromatic bouquet of ripe, stewed and concentrated fruits intertwined with delicate schistous notes. The Les Rouères is much more fruit intense than all the other Anjous from this exciting domaine. On the palate, this is a silky-textured, rich and elegant, dense yet well balanced, finessed and aromatic Chenin with an exceptionally long and, due to firm tannins, sustainably structured finish that fits easily into Markus Molitor's infamous "physical drinking" category. 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. You shouldn't look for the purity and crushed stones and fresh fruits here. Although the wine has tension, finesse and purity, it is a rather baroque style made to enjoy in a decade and possibly for decades. 14% alcohol (according to the back label, possibly more). 97 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
QUARTS-DE-CHAUMES "QUARTS" 2018 375ML
The 2018 Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru Liquoreux Les Quarts demonstrates impressively. Amber-orange colored, the nose is deep, intense and concentrated, very complex and elegant, with spicy and balsamic apricot notes, nougat and porcini aromas as well as flinty-mineral notes and associations of crispy ham hock. Round, smooth and sweet but with great finesse and elegance, this is a rich yet almost weightless and perfectly balanced liquoreux from the central Les Quarts plot of the QDC appellation that develops a vertical, highly stimulating and filigreed structure that leads to a long, crisp and frisky piquancy and salty finesse that makes this grand cru wine extremely digestible, even at this very early stage. 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.