97 Wine & Spirits

The Baumards farm 15 acres of terraced, 35 year old vines in Quarts des Chaume on the steep, south facing hillside above the Layon river. Spring frosts reduce their yields by about 60 percent, and what remained is fermented all in stainless, and produced something spectacular. This wines aromas are coy, hinting at a jam made with an Edenic bounty: apricot, peach pear and ginger with a floral edge. Then a taste completely fills your head, tucking that bounty of fruit into every corner of your skull until it feels like your brain is cushioned in a cloud. There's sweetness, yes, but its just a brown-sugar depth rather than a driving force in the wine. You might pour this with a funky, soft, chesses at the end of a meal or alongside a main course of roasted duck with red-wine braised pears and charred greens. But its also vibrant enough to drink on its own long into the night.