Light yellow-orange color. Sweet, but a nice firm backing of acid kept it well framed-in and not at all cloying. Lots of quince, peaches, and melon fruits on both the nose and palate, plush texture along with oodles of lush tropical fruit and some creamy honey and beeswax.
I’ve had this a couple of times and remember liking it every single time. A quick check on my past notes shows that the last time I had it was on 9 May 2008 at my little Bdx group’s Manila Blind Bordeaux Challenge IX that I won with an '82 Gruaud Larose (over a '94 Haut Brion, '61 Pichon Lalande and '96 Montrose). My notes then on the Quarts de Chaume were:
2002 Baumard Quarts de Chaume, a vibrant, minerally wine with dominant honeyed apricot, pineapple and peach primaries, hints of straw, a steely backbone underneath the stone fruit and exceptional balance of sweetness and acidity.
Nice wine, indeed.
Best,
N
Indeed, and that applies to well-made Chenin Blancs in general IMO.
After trying the Baumard QdC and a Huet from the 90s a few years back, I went off the deep end for Chenin Blanc… it now makes up 14% of my cellar (3rd most, following Riesling and Bordeaux).
I’m now on the hunt for some of this wine, thanks to this thread.
Do any of our ITB’ers carry it? Daniel? Max?
Grapes has the '05 in 375s for $49, but you’d want to ask him if he can spin-up a Berserker discount… I paid about $60 for my 750s, so $35 is what I’d consider a reasonable price.
The vintage to seek out, to me, would be the '97. Amazing wine. Try this one and decide. To me, one of the best desert wines in the world.
Thank you Jim for the note. The 2002 to me is an exceptional wine which will evolve for many years while giving pleasure throughout the long time line. Regards, John
One of these days I’d like to seek out some Baumard QdC from the 1990s and earlier… I’ve got a fair amount of 00, 02, 04, and 05, but my affection for Chenin Blanc only goes back 3 years give or take, so unfortunately I don’t have any from great years such as 71, 89, 90, 96, 97, etc. Plus, I have to balance my Chenin budget for Baumard against Huet and Foreau (among others).
If anyone wants to unload some Huet Cuvee Constance, feel free to let me know. 
A wine bar by my house used to have this by the glass when it was released. needless to say I was there 3-4 nights a week enjoying it. I absolutely love the wine and have a few bottles for aging. the last one that I opened a year and a half ago seemed a little shut down, or that it had lost some of its youthful flamboyance. Still a wonderful wine.
I’ll pile on…great wine. A nice match with foie as well.
Cheers,
Love this wine! The 96, 97, 98, 2002, and 2005 are all great wines.
I love this wine but I think both this and the 05 versions have shut down a bit and while good, this is the time to cellar them and let them age. I have had both in the last couple months and will not open any more for a while. Note-The 05 is in a screw cap.
I probably should have posted the date with my note… in the spirit of posting tasting notes, as well as to find out whether we have any Chenin fans out there, this is a note from early '07.
Picked up six for $36.67 from Crush in early October…pretty sure it was a special e-mail price.
I have opened one, it was terrific but the others shall sleep for a while.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
That’s something else interesting about QdC…
I think either the domaine or the import chain pushes the price higher than the market supports. I see lots of pricing for $60 and more, but at the end of the day I always pick this stuff up in special sales for about $40/bottle.
That’s no knock on the wine’s quality, as this is one of my favorite Chenin sweeties. But, regardless of the cause, it seems like this wine really needs more realistic pricing right from day one to sell-through in a timely manner.
I have a couple of 98s, any impressions on how they compare to the 2002s?
The '05 ranks as my favorite wine of the year so far; absolutely brilliant.
Brett; Need to open a 2002 together one of these days…
Nice seeing you and Meredith last friday!
Cheers!
Marshall
I can get 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006. I think I have some 2005 left, but I will check tomorrow. If you would like the other vintages, just drop me a pm.
FYI, I drank a 2001 about one month ago and it was fantastic.
It’s up to about 60 retail here in MD for a 750. I’d love to find it for $37. Thats about what I pay for a 375 retail.