2005 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume- France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume (9/9/2010)
This is my first bottle of the 2005 Baumard QDC. It no longer has the primary big tropical fruit nose as the wine has settled own. Upon opening slightly too cold, white peach, pear and apple, candied lemon peel with slight hint of petrol and botrytis. Also showing candied ginger and perhaps roasted garlic. Unctuous oily palate with good acidity and long finish. As getting slightly too warm a hint of pineapple and mango. Nicely balanced wine that is in the secondary stage. 94 pts. (94 pts.)
Pretty surprising that a Chenin that was only released 3 1/2 years ago is showing notable secondary characteristics. I’ve had some '02s that still were very youthful, though '05 is plumper and could certainly age somewhat more quickly.
Probably the ripest QdC I’ve tasted. Tropical and atypically sweet young, it seems like the acid has been catching up of late. The screw caps are a bit of a concern. I’m curious about the secondary characteristics.
I guess the definition of primary for this wine is a bit more complicated. To me, in this wine’s primary stage, there is so much explosive fruit of all kinds, pear, mango, white and yellow peach, pineapple, guava, coconut and etc. The fruit on this wine is not as explosive as in my definition of the primary stage. As stated earlier, there is not much of petrol or other secondary or tertiary flavors. Just trying to clarify. Perhaps not secondary but past primary.
I once had a vertical of QDC going back to the 62 as I recall. Just like any other sweet wines, it loses the sweetness. It also becomes very petrol and linear. Once again this wine does not have much secondary characters.
Kevin, did you sample any '70 or '71 in that vertical? I have a range of different Huets going back to '47, but Baumard is a bit of a different beast. I’m thinking of grabbing some older Baumard the next time I have an opportunity, but having a few datapoints would be nice.
Jim,
As I recall we had a dozen plus but dont recall which vintages as I didnt take any TNs and it has been almost ten years. I do recall very noticeable petrol presence.
This may be a bit dated, but here are notes from I a Baumard-a-thon I went to in August of '02. Haven’t had the '70 since then, but after that tasting I went out and bought a couple of cases of '71 on closeout and have had about a dozen and a half since then. None have lived up to the bottle at that tasting, though I believe that was an older bottle, whereas the ones I got where from a newer release. All those bottles have typically shown in the B+ to A- range, though most commonly in the A- range.
Let me know if you ever make it to NY. Would love to have another Baumard-a-thon. I’ve been talking about it for years, but still haven’t gotten it off the ground.
Cheers,
Brad
Dry Wines
1990 Baumard- Savennières
Yellow color. Light gun smoke funk on the nose that blew off to reveal quinine, mineral, lemon and light butterscotch aromas. Expansive and a touch fat on the palate. Dry with nice pithy bitterness and white grapefruit, quinine and mineral flavors. Rounds out nicely on the finish. A-/B+.
1990 Baumard- Savennières, “Trie Spéciale”
Showed great lushness on the nose when first closed, but it closed up aromatically very quickly. On the palate, much more lush and richer than the regular ’90 bottling, but with a similar flavor profile and with a touch of pleasant spice and bitterness on the finish. A-.
1995 Baumard- Savennières, “Clos Papillon”
Pale and bright in the glass. Nice aromas of bee’s wax, mineral, pear and apple. Showing more open on the palate than six months prior. Mouth-filling, focused and with good acidity. Dry with plenty of pear and mineral flavors and a touch of bee’s wax. A-.
1996 Baumard- Savennières, “Clos Papillon”
Damn! A cooked bottle. A shame, too, since this is one of my favorite Savennières. (Side note. No longer sure if this was cooked, or was the first example of prem-ox this wine has shown. Too many '96’s have shown this way, since.)
1997 Baumard- Savennières, “Clos Papillon”
Bright, clear color. Really well-focused on the nose with mineral, lemon and grapefruit pith aromas. Opulent on the palate with a touch of alcohol showing due to the extreme ripeness of the vintage, though I have to confess it’s come together very nicely since release, when I found it way too disjointed and wondered if it would come together well. Quite dry with mineral and grapefruit pith flavors dominating and with faint, dry honey rounding out the finish. A-.
Sweet Wines
1962 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Gold colored. Shows lots much more botrytis on the nose than most of the other wines. The nose is a real tour de force with botrytis, bee’s wax, marzipan, apricot and Earl Gray tea aromas. On the palate, the wine is just as intriguing as on the nose. Complex and balanced nicely by vibrant acidity, there’s plenty of botrytis/honey here with some bitter orange marmalade, tea, apricots and marzipan. Drinks well now and is starting to show it’s age a little. A/A-.
1967 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Opens with a big whiff of Gorgonzola cheese, though not in an unpleasant way. I’ve occasionally gotten cheese-like aromas from older Chenin Blanc. It blows off a bit and also offers up mineral aromas. Acidity is quite perky in this example with light honey, mineral, sweet lemons and a touch of shoe polish on the palate. Lingering honeyed lemon drop finish. Best showing of four bottles I’ve tried. A-.
1969 Baumard- Coteaux du Layon, “Clos de Sainte Catherine”
Kate calls the color of this wine “camel piss.” Not remembering what camel piss looked like in Israel, or at the Bronx Zoo, I’d call it a rich yellow color, though looking on the youthful side for it’s age. Pretty tight on the nose with only light honey aromas showing. Mostly youth showing on the palate with plenty of peppy acidity, though the wine is taking on mature notes. There’s that older sweetness along with nice chalkiness, honey and bergaments. Sweet lemons on the finish. While generally enjoyable, the wine does have a bit of a hole in the mid-palate. A-/B+.
1969 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
From a suspect bottle with a low fill and a cork that dropped into the bottle. A deep yellow/pale gold color. Quite mushroomy on the nose with honey, mineral and light tea aromas. Sweeter than the ’69 Clos de Sainte Catherine, but showing an older profile with much softer acidity. Fairly advanced with enjoyable honey, tea and marmalade flavors. I’d certainly like to try a more pristine example as this one was quite nice. Low A-.
1970 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Deep yellow color. Shows a mixture of youth and age on the nose. Showed youth in that the acidity was apparent by smelling, but the aromas showed more of a typical aged Chenin profile. Honey, baked apple, quince jam, light shoe polish and tea aromas. Nicely rich on the palate with like flavors as aromas and with the acidity really perking things up. A-.
1971 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Deep yellow in color and showing a bit younger than anticipated on the nose. Hay-like honey, faint tea, tropical fruit compote with a tiny dollop of butterscotch make for a beguiling and delightful nose. Rich and sweet and seemingly at the crossroads of youth and maturity. It shows youthful vibrancy on the palate, but is developing some aged complexity. There’s nice pineapple, quince and mineral flavors with Earl Gray tea sneaking in there. No holes in this wine. Delicious! Solid A.
1976 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume, “La Première Sélection de Grains Nobles”
For once I got to feel like Callahan the curmudgeon as I’ve had a better example of this wine. A deeper yellow color than the ’71 and showing less than that wine, but with more acidity. Honey, mineral and grilled pineapple flavors dominate. Still excellent, though not the best bottle. A-.
1986 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
We have the Brother’s Johnson singing Get the Funk Out Ma Face here. Lots of earth funk on the nose. Sharply acidic on the palate with mushroom, earth and light honey flavors. Not as sweet, complex or rich as all the others and fairly short on the palate to boot. I haven’t really enjoyed the Huets from ’86, either. Low B.
1988 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Similar to the ’86 in that there’s plenty of funk on the nose, but the wine is richer and shows a little more sweetness and botrytis. Pleasant honey, apricot and quince flavors. A very good wine in a difficult year. B+.
1989 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Youthful, and typically Chenin aromas of botrytis, apricot, pineapple and mineral. Rich and unctuous on the palate with terrific acidity. Lots of tropical fruit, apricot, botrytis and honey. Perfect balance and desperately needing age. This wine often takes some knocks by folks when being compared to the ultra-rich ’90. I love ‘em both for their respective styles. While certainly more reserved than the ’90, I find this wine more focused and harmonious. A.
1990 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Yellow color. Much more opulent on the nose and palate than the ’89. Ultra rich and pumped up in the Hans and Franz sense with decadent botrytis, pineapple, thick honey and tropical fruit flavors and aromas. This is just simply monstrous on the palate. Though not as well balanced by acidity as the ’89, there’s more than enough here to prevent it from being cloying and more age will bear that out as some of the fruit and sweetness fades. Delicious. Solid A.
1995 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Consistently my favorite Baumard QDC of all time, this bottle is a great example why. There’s gorgeous botrytis, rich tropical fruit, honeysuckle and mineral in spades. Yet the balance of this wine is what sets it apart from all the rest. The acidity perfectly balances the intense sweetness and combines with all the flavor elements, each in the proper proportion, to give this wine a certain classiness that sets it apart from the rest. A+.
1996 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Shows more of an apricot profile on the nose and palate than the ’95 and lacks the botrytis of the ’95, but is also richly endowed. Decadent apricot, tropical fruit and mineral flavors. Has terrific acidity, great focus and is a stunning wine in its own right. Solid A.
1997 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Very thick and rich and loaded with botrytis. More blowsy than either the ’95, or ’96 with honey, pineapple and mineral flavors dominating. While the acidity is more prevalent than it was on release, the wine still tends to be relatively on the fat side. Still, this is nice, thick ‘n sweet stuff. A/A-.
1998 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Pale in color which stood in stark contrast to the previous wines. Nose of mineral, passion fruit, flowers and peas. Light on the palate and showing more floral and mineral notes than many of the wines today, along with light honey, passion fruit and pineapple. Good acidity that seems stronger due to the lighter style of the wine. Not a “great” Baumard, but one that has plenty of interesting things going on in it. I’ve had bottles that have shown the same and a little better than this one. A-/B+.
While the ’99 Wasn’t tasted at this tasting, I’ll include the note I recently wrote on it just for additional perspective.
1999 Baumard- Quarts de Chaume
Fairly light on the nose, but there are some nice pear, stone and honey aromas. More viscous on the palate than the ’98 and showing more ripeness, though less acidity. While the wine is a tad fat, the pear, pineapple, honey and mineral flavors are enjoyable and generous and there is enough acidity present to prevent the wine from being cloying. A-.
Thanks for the notes (and other comments). The 05 was astonishingly good on release if a bit riper than most vitntages. I found it to have shut down hard and the last two were a waste. Its been a year though. I am now holding my 05s and probably my 02’s for a while. You can find good pricing on the 05’s if you look and negociate.
I love QDC, and loaded up on '05 when it was first released in PA. It is going to be my screw-cap experiment to see where this goes over the next 40+ yrs. Hope that it survives the long haul.
PLCB recently discounted this to $46.99. Seems to be the lowest price around if they didn’t cook it over the past 3 yrs.
Thanks for sharing those notes, they brought back many happy memories of imbibing Baumard’s offerings over the past fifteen years since I first visited the domaine. The Quarts de Chaume particularly is a gob-smacking wine of bewitching elegance and refulgent intensity which I find hard to resist whenever I see it on sale.
Speaking of restraint, I liberated my last bottle of the 1995 QdC from my long-term cellar earlier this summer. What is the considered opinion of the Cheninophile Wine Berserkers? Drink now (whilst it will still have plenty of vivacity) or keep it for a while in the quest for more pronounced mature characters? If the latter it’ll be a hard job to resisting it, for someone who collects wine I’m remarkably bad at the ‘deferred pleasure’-thing.
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