2018 | Domaine Belargus | Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru Quarts (Half Bottle)

Dessert Wine: 2018 | Domaine Belargus | Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru Quarts (Half Bottle)

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.

Order from the Largest & Most Trusted Premium Spirits Marketplace!

Featured in

• ROLLING STONE
• MEN’S JOURNAL
• US WEEKLY

NOTICE: Many other small liquor store sites may end up cancelling your order due to the high demand, unavailability or inaccurate inventory counts. We have partnerships consisting of a large network of licensed retailers from within the United States, Europe and across the world ensuring orders are fulfilled.

Producer: Domaine Belargus

Ratings: WA | 99

Vintage: 2018

Size: 375ml

ABV: 11%

Varietal: Chenin Blanc

Country/Region: France, Quarts de Chaume

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.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: “Les Quarts is the original plot that gave its name to the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation,” reminds Ivan Massonnat, spiritus rector of Domaine Belargus. The Quarts-de-Chaume terroira sunny, south-facing hillside on schists, exposed to the morning mists of the Layon River and ventilated by constant windsresults in “a botrytis of rare concentration,” says Massonnat, as 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! 11% alcohol. Tasted in June 2021.

Producer Information

Domaine Belargus was created in 2018 after Jo Pithon sold his estate to Ivan Massonnat. Though born in the Savoie, Ivan is a passionate wine enthusiast with family roots in Chinon. He has long believed in Chenin Blancs potential for diverse terroir expression equal to Pinot Noir in Burgundy. Now totaling 24 hectares, Ivan has assembled a collection of parcels and monopoles in the Anjou Noir the geologically complex and ancient volcanic vineyard lands that stretch from Savennires in the northwest to Bonnezeaux in the southeast. The reputation of this region was established by religious orders, which planted these vineyards in the 11th century, and the royal courts across Europe that served these wines until phylloxera devasted the region in the late 19th century. The famous hillside of Chaume was replanted in the early 20th century and was awarded the only 1er (Chaume 1er cru) and Grand Cru (Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru) in the Loire Valley. By the 1970s however, industrial farming and shortcuts in the cellar seemed to have irrevocably tarnished the reputation of Quarts de Chaume, Chaume, and Chenin from the Anjou. But starting in the 1980s a new generation of vignerons began to gradually chart a new and promising future for the region, among whom was Jo Pithon who rediscovered and rejuvenated the dramatic and lost terroir of Coteau des Treilles the Cte Rotie of the Layon Valley. With Ivan Massonnat stepping in to carry on Jos efforts, the future of wines in the Anjou looks more promising than ever.