Tasting Note
Located on the eastern side, Les Rouères is one of the three plots listed in the original decree creating the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru appellation, says Ivan Massonnat. The shallow and warm soils rest on pudding sandstone (sand concretions and rolled gravel), which accumulate the heat of the day and restore it at night. This solar terroir gives birth to fruit-intense, complex and ample wines, and the Belarus 2018 Anjou Les Rouères is a great example. The intensely straw-yellow wine offers an intensely aromatic bouquet of ripe, stewed and concentrated fruits intertwined with delicate schistous notes. The Les Rouères is much more fruit intense than all the other Anjous from this exciting domaine. On the palate, this is a silky-textured, rich and elegant, dense yet well balanced, finessed and aromatic Chenin with an exceptionally long and, due to firm tannins, sustainably structured finish that fits easily into Markus Molitor's infamous "physical drinking" category. It is a dense, rich and powerful, firmly structured and enormously fruity Rochefort (or better: dry Quarts-de-Chaume) from late-harvested Chenin Blanc grapes. You shouldn't look for the purity and crushed stones and fresh fruits here. Although the wine has tension, finesse and purity, it is a rather baroque style made to enjoy in a decade and possibly for decades. 14% alcohol (according to the back label, possibly more). Tasted in June 2021.
