Quarts de Chaume

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical zone is traversed by a steep hillside stretching in an east–west orientation above the Layon river.
• The delimited parcels occupy approximately forty hectares with southerly exposure at the foot of this steep hillside, spanning an elevation difference of 25 to 75 metres.
• The parcels rest essentially on a Brioverian schist subsoil, present mainly on the left bank of the Layon and only at a few points on the right bank.
• On the upper part of the delimited parcel area, pudding stones appear locally — conglomerates of heavily eroded water-borne pebbles — while the vines are most often planted in a very thin clay soil with limited available water-holding capacity.
• Benefiting from a foehn effect and sheltered from oceanic moisture by the relief of the Mauges massif to the west, the zone receives approximately 600 millimetres of annual rainfall compared with 800 millimetres over the Mauges massif.
• The small valley of 'Bézigon', formed by a meander of the Layon, is conducive to morning mists that shroud the vines until late into autumn mornings.

• In 1028, Foulques Nerra bequeathed to the Abbey of Ronceray in Angers a property at Rochefort-sur-Loire, and the nuns, aware of the site's potential, took the necessary steps to make the most of it.
• In the fifteenth century, the lords of La Guerche paid the nuns with the finest quarter-portions of the harvest from the south-facing slope, a custom that gave rise to the appellation's name.
• Count Odart, in his Traité des cépages of 1845, describes the necessity of harvesting Chenin at an overripe stage, around All Saints' Day, when the skin falls into sphacelation.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée Quarts de Chaume was recognised by the decree of 10 August 1954.

• These sweet white wines are produced solely from the Chenin grape variety, combining power and delicacy with great aromatic complexity.
• The palate reveals a harmony between sweetness and nerve, often underscored by a touch of bitterness, with a considerable capacity for ageing.

• The meander of the Layon generates autumn morning mists that deposit droplets on ripe berries, encouraging the establishment of Botrytis cinerea, the agent of noble rot.
• Under the warmth of the sun, the fungus responsible for noble rot spreads across the golden clusters, driving the concentration of sugars in the berries and the development of aromatic complexity.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 7 octobre 2022, JORF 13 octobre 2022
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — InterLoire