Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru La Martinière - 50cl

A bright, energetic and luminous liquoreux. On the nose we have intense notes of orange peel, roasted apricots, dried roses and spices. The palate is very concentrated, yet gives a fresh, airy sensation. The finish is tense with the great bitters of this Quarts de Chaume terroir, then even brilliant, unfolding all its complexity of flavours.

La Martinière, a steep, very stony slope of schist, facing south-west, is a magical hillside in the Quarts de Chaume appellation, the only Grand Cru in the Loire.

HISTORY

We had the opportunity to become the monopoly operator of the La Martinière vineyard in Quarts de Chaume in 2015. We are thus fortunate to be among the privileged estates sharing the only Grand Cru in the whole of the Loire. Quarts de Chaume is a unique place. The tenement of Chaume is a hillside on the right bank which juts out like a promontory above the Layon. The lords of Haute Guerche, tenants of the tènement de Chaume, owed the abbess of Ronceray d'Angers "a quarter of the harvest hanging on the back of the hillside facing south". This is how the Quarts de Chaume came into being. This climatic situation on the banks of the Layon River allows for the rapid and intense development of Botrytis (noble rot).

TERROIR

La Martinière is located at the foot of the Chaume hillside on its most stony part. The Brioverian sandstone schists are usually found on the left bank of the Layon, followed by Carboniferous sandstones and puddings on the higher part. La Martinière is a south-west facing plot, at the foot of the hillside, made up of 200 small rows planted on a full slope (30 to 40%). This terroir is incredible in its concentration and precocity. The small bunches of Chenin grapes gorge themselves with sugar very quickly. The botrytis arrives very early in the season.

THE HAND OF MAN

Here the vines grow very little. We have a hillside viticulture and therefore small yields (between 10 and 15hl/ha). Working the soil is delicate but essential. Here, the historical know-how of the Domaine, namely the meticulous harvest, sometimes berry by berry, of grapes concentrated by botrytis at the right moment, takes on its full meaning. We are in the world of botrytised Chenin at a very high level of over-ripeness. The objective is not to obtain the greatest concentration of sugar but the greatest concentration of aromas and the greatest brilliance of flavours. On this terroir, botrytis arrives at full speed, as soon as the grapes are ripe, and concentrates very quickly. This is why it is often not necessary to harvest very late in the season. The first pickings are often the most beautiful with an incredible brilliance. Here, the acidity of the Chenin and the deep bitters of this terroir balance the sugar concentrated by the botrytis. In the cellar, the pressing lasts more than one night in order to extract all the matter and the concentration of the botrytis. After clearing the must as much as possible, fermentation lasts for many weeks, often for many months in new or recent barrels. The concentration of the botrytis slows down the fermentation which eventually stops. We then filter the wine on the ground before bottling. We choose to bottle the wine under glass to ensure optimal ageing of each bottle.