Château de Suronde - Quarts de Chaume 2018
The Château de Suronde is located in Chaume, in the Anjou-Saumur region in the Loire Valley. The estate was acquired in 2016 by Kathleen Van den Berghe and Sigurd Mareels , the Belgian owners of Château de Minière in the Bourgueil appellation. The 7-hectare vineyard is conducted in certified organic farming , with biodynamic practices, of which 5.5 hectares are in the Quarts de Chaume appellation, the only Grand Cru in the Loire Valley. The estate also has 10 hectares of garden, agricultural land and forest, which creates a great biodiversity. The Château de Suronde is also a place of creation for artists , offering a residence to writers, musicians and visual arts. Each year, works of art created in Suronde are selected to appear on new wine labels.
Quarts de Chaume is made from Chenin Blanc from a single 60-year-old plot, "Les Varennes", of 0.4 hectares on sandstone shale. The vines are exposed to the south and benefit from ventilation by the flow of air currents from the Layon. Harvesting is done by hand in several rounds, and requires specific monitoring of the evolution of noble rot according to climatic conditions. The bunches are sorted when they are overripe, then fermentation takes place in French oak barrels : 50% new and 50% one year old. The wine is racked and then aged in barrels on fine lees for 10 months . This sweet wine contains 170 g/L of residual sugar.
Grape variety: 100% Chenin Blanc