2020 Anjou, Quarts, Domaine Belargus, Loire
Critics reviews
The 2020 Anjou Blanc Quarts is a powerful, intense style without being heavy—smoky, spiced and flinty. It has the nervousness and energy of a jittery foal, but it's got what it takes to be a stallion, possessing athleticism and muscle within its compact core. Flavor-wise, there's just-ripe plum freshly picked off the tree, alongside honey and exotic spice. Innate sinew draws this out on the long finish. If I were an Amazon algorithm, I'd say, “If you like toasty, smoky Grand Cru white Burgundy, come have a look over here.”
Drink 2026 - 2036
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com (May 2024)
Bone dry, with attractive, honeyed and vanilla notes, a vibrant, mouth-filling texture and a very long, precise and pure finish that shows light saline notes despite still being a little closed at the end, although this demonstrates its potential to evolve with further time in bottle. The south-facing Les Quarts (3.08ha) gave its name to the Quarts de Chaume, as the lords of the Haute Guerche, as tenants of the vineyards, paid the nuns of the Ronceray Abbey with the best quarter of their harvest.
These vines were planted between 1987 and 1991 in loamy clays over schist. Grapes were picked on 17 September with a yield of 31hl/ha. Fermented and aged in barrels of 228 and 400 litres with an average age of five years for 14 months. Bottled 23 November 2021.
Drink 2025 - 2060
Jim Budd, Decanter.com (March 2024)
About this WINE
Domaine Belargus
Domaine Belargus sits in the Loire Valley’s Anjou appellation. It is owner Ivan Massonat’s labour of love. His grandfather farmed a small vineyard where the family lived in Savoie, so wine was always familiar to Ivan. It was Burgundy that first stole Ivan’s heart, however – how the region could produce such varied expressions of one grape variety fascinated him.
Escaping the Parisian rat race, Ivan bought a house in the Loire and discovered the excellence of its, often overlooked, wines. He wanted to play a role in their promotion and have his own chance to explore terroir expressions of a single variety – in this case, Chenin Blanc. His first purchase was revered Loire winemaker, Jo Pithon’s Coteau des Treilles vineyard and Jo remains one of Ivan’s closest advisors at Domaine Belargus. Indigenous to the Coteau des Treilles, it is the blue Belargus butterfly which lends the domaine its name.
Soon after, Ivan acquired 10 hectares in the Quarts de Chaume – the Loire’s only Grand Cru appellation. The Grand Cru classification only applies to sweet wines, so Ivan’s Chenin Blanc vineyards here produce the domaine’s ambrosian sweet wines.
Domaine Belargus now has over 20 hectares of Chenin Blanc vineyards, producing 15 cuvées of dry and sweet wines. Already certified organic, it is also farmed biodynamically and in the process of acquiring full biodynamic certification.
Anjou-Saumur
Anjou-Saumur is a Mid-west Loire region most famous for the fine sweet Chenin Blanc wines of Bonnezeaux, Coteaux du Layon (including the exemplary - if tiny- Quarts de Chaume appellation) and Coteaux de l'Aubance.
The bulk of the wines produced in the Anjou region comprise the bland `Rosé d'Anjou' (made from the Grolleau grape) and marginally better Cabernet d'Anjou; Some smoky dry Anjou Chenin Blanc also produced.
The Saumur region's bread and butter is its Mousseux, while it also produces some dry Saumur Chenin (similar to Anjou's version) and some impressive Cabernet Franc, chalky dry thanks to the `tuffeau' soils.
Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc is an important white grape variety planted in the Anjou-Saumur and Touraine regions of the Loire Valley and the most widely planted varietal grape in South Africa.
In the Loire it produces high quality dry wines in Savenniéres, and luscious sweet, dessert wines in Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume. In Vouvray and Montlouis it can be dry, medium dry, or sweet, and still or sparkling. Whether dry or sweet, the best Loire Chenin Blancs possess marvellously concentrated rich, honeyed fruit together with refreshingly vibrant acidity. It is Chenin Blanc's high acidity that enable the wines to age so well.
In South Africa Chenin Blanc is easier to grow and is prized for its versatility. It is used as a cheap blending option with Chardonnay, Colombard, and Muscat but also bottled unblended. The best producers keep their yields low and produce impressive mouthfilling wines.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Ivan Massonat, via his Domaine Belargus, is redefining dry Anjou Chenin Blanc. Les Quarts comes from the south-facing Quarts de Chaume, best-known for its unctuously sweet wines, but now gaining a reputation for some of the finest dry white wines of the world. A wine of wonderful elegance and finesse, with a sleek sophistication that would put most white Burgundy to shame.
Arguably a wine of texture and structure, rather than aromas or flavours, there is a feeling of precision and freshness running through the middle of the wine. There are layers of chewy citrus fruit and white peach, interwoven with salty minerals which leave a bone-dry finish. Still very young, with significant ageing potential.
Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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