Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume: appellations upheld on all counts by Conseil d'Etat

 Florent Baumard (Domaine des Baumard) 

and his father Jean challenged the décrets passed in November 2011

The judgment and decision from France's Conseil d'Etat (France's Supreme Court) has now been published on their site. It is on the ArianeWeb (jurisprudence) section and can be accessed by typing in the case number – 356103. 

Although I will readily admit that legal French strains my normally reasonable French to its very limits*, it is clear that the Conseil d'Etat upheld the two décrets passed in November 2011 and which established Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru and Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume. 

Jean and his son Florent Baumard (Domaine des Baumard) challenged these décrets on the basis that the state had exceeded their powers in signing them into law. The Conseil d'Etat rejected the Baumards' challenge on all counts. 

The decision by the Conseil d'Etat is based on the report from M. Guillaume Odinet, auditeur, and the conclusions of Mme Marie-Astrid Nicolazo de Barmon, rapporteur public (also here); These were presented at the hearing on Wednesday 29th January 2014. Before and after the conclusions were given the Baumards' lawyer from law firm SCP Waquet, Farge Hazan addressed the court.

The grounds for the Baumards' challenge:

a)
'En ce qui concerne la légalité externe :

3. Considérant, en premier lieu, qu'il ressort des pièces du dossier que, conformément à l'article L. 641-6 du code rural et de la pêche maritime, l'organisme de défense et de gestion a été consulté sur le cahier des charges homologué par le décret attaqué, et en particulier sur l'interdiction du processus de cryosélection ; qu'aucune disposition législative ou réglementaire n'imposait à l'INAO de communiquer aux membres de l'organisme un dossier technique et scientifique sur chacune des modifications du cahier des charges envisagées ; qu'il ne ressort pas des pièces du dossier que l'organisme se serait prononcé sur la base d'informations erronées ; que, dès lors, il n'a pas été irrégulièrement consulté ;

4. Considérant, en second lieu, que, contrairement à ce que soutient la requérante, aucune disposition ni aucun principe n'imposait la consultation des organismes de défense et de gestion de l'ensemble des appellations d'origine contrôlée de vins du Val de Loire avant l'adoption d'un cahier des charges permettant l'usage d'une mention traditionnelle telle que la mention " grand cru "' 

It was claimed that there should have been a wide consultation process in particular in relation to the banning of cryoselection and the use of 'grand cru'. Rejected.

b) 

En ce qui concerne la légalité interne :

S'agissant du lien existant entre le milieu géographique et le produit :

This is a quite lengthy section (so I'm not quoting it), which I don't claim to fully understand at present but judgment affirms that the zone of the Quarts de Chaume zone is properly delimited and there is a clear link with the production rules that apply to Quarts de Chaume.  

c)

S'agissant de la possibilité de compléter l'appellation " Quarts deA... " par la mention " grand cru " :

The reputation of the Quarts de Chaume is sufficient to justify the term Grand Cru and won't cause confusion with other wines from the Coteaux du Layon. 

 
d)
S'agissant de l'interdiction du recours au procédé de cryosélection :

(Banning of cryoselection)
17. Considérant qu'il ressort des pièces du dossier que le procédé de cryosélection, qui permet de sélectionner les grains de raisin les plus concentrés et sucrés et d'isoler les grains les plus aqueux en portant l'ensemble des grains cueillis à température négative, a été regardé par la commission d'enquête de l'INAO comme relevant des " pratiques peu ou pas recommandables en matière d'AOC " au motif qu'il conduit à un affaiblissement du lien spécifique du produit avec son terroir en incitant à récolter en début de vendange plutôt que d'attendre la surmaturation, soumise aux conditions climatiques d'arrière-saison, du raisin sur pied ; que, si ce procédé permet une amélioration substantielle du rendement de la vigne, il ne ressort pas des pièces du dossier qu'il serait indispensable à la rentabilité de l'exploitation des vins de Quarts deA... ; que, contrairement à ce que soutient la société requérante, le niveau de rendement de la vigne fixé par le cahier des charges n'est pas un seuil à atteindre mais un maximum ne pouvant être dépassé ; qu'il ne ressort pas des pièces du dossier que ce procédé serait indispensable pour atteindre le titre alcoométrique volumique naturel minimum fixé par le cahier des charges ; que doit, dès lors, être écarté le moyen tiré de ce que le pouvoir réglementaire aurait commis une erreur manifeste d'appréciation en homologuant un cahier des charges interdisant le recours au procédé de cryosélection ;

Cryoselection works by allowing the more concentrated grapes to be separated, following freezing, from more watery ones. The INAO regards cryoselection as 'pratiques peu ou pas recommandables en matière d'AOC ' – techniques that can barely be recommended if at all for AOC wines. This technique allows to substantially increase yields and means that grapes can be picked at the beginning of the harvest rather than waiting for surmaturation. The maximum yield allowed is not a threshold to be attained but a maximum that must not be exceeded.The use of cryoselection could mean that the required natural minimum degree of ripeness for the grapes on the vine might not be met. 

The objection to the banning of cryoselection was dismissed. 

The challenge to the Quarts de Chaume and the Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume was based on other objections, which I will try to cover shortly but in brief they were:

S'agissant de la possibilité pour les vins de l'AOC " Quarts deA... " de se replier dans l'appellation " Coteaux du Layon ", complétée des mentions " premier cru " et " A... " :

S'agissant des mesures transitoires relatives à l'application des nouvelles règles de conduite de la vigne :

Sur les conclusions tendant à l'annulation du décret du 23 novembre 2011 relatif à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée " Coteaux du Layon " :

En ce qui concerne la possibilité de compléter l'appellation " Coteaux du Layon " par la dénomination géographique " A... " :
En ce qui concerne la délimitation de l'aire parcellaire de production des vins susceptibles de porter la dénomination géographique complémentaire " A... " :

The judgment concludes with:  Article 1er : Les requêtes de la SCEA Domaine des Baumard sont rejetées.

Please note that any mistakes made from translation are my own.


* I'm reminded of this scene in the Marx Brothers: A Night at the Opera.

Quarts de Chaume: an update on the Baumards' attempt to annul new Grand Cru

Quarts de Chaume: terraces close to the River Layon 

The peaceful battlefield!

Florent Baumard

On Wednesday afternoon (29th January) Jean and Florent Baumard's legal challenge to the Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru was heard before France's Conseil d'Etat (the country's Supreme Court) with the rapporteur giving their conclusions. I understand that the court is due to hand down its decision in two or four weeks time. I assume that the Conseil will also have heard during this hearing the Baumards' challenge to AOC Coteaux du Layon Premier Cru Chaume.

I understand that the commission set up to look into this legal challenge gave their report and conclusions to the judges on the Baumards' challenge. This commission spent several months looking at the issues involved, which included the hierarchisation – Grand Cru Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux du Layon Premier Cru Chaume, the names and the eventual ban on cryoextraction/cryoselection.

Jean and Florent Baumard successfully challenged two previous newly created appellations involving Chaume with the Conseil annulling the previous versions in 2005 and 2009 respectively. See here and here. 

It is ironic that the Baumards' challenge has been heard just before the Salon des Vins de Loire and probably a very good thing that the Conseil's decision will not be handed down until after the Salon keeping all the parties concerned in suspense.

Although the court's decision will directly affect this small part of Anjou – Quarts de Chaume is around 50 hectares, it has wider implications. If the Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru décret is annulled this is likely to put back any proposals from other Loire appellations seeking grand cru status for their best sites. 

There are broader issues than Grand Cru status, assuming the Baumard's challenge to Q de C was based at least in part on the banning of cryoextraction/cryoselection (permitted to 2019 vintage). Allowing cryoextraction, especially for a very special site like the Quarts de Chaume, will signal that France allows its producers to use freezing or other forms of technological intervention to change the hand that nature dealt. It will diminish the risk involved in making very special sweet wines (at their best) like the Quarts de Chaume. It is likely to permit growers to produce larger quantities of these sweet wines. Would the Baumards have challenged the new Grand Cru if it had permitted cryoextraction/cryoselection?

I hope that the Conseil d'Etat rejects the Baumard's challenge and that the Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru décret of November 2011 remains in place as it bought welcome rigour to one of France's greatest sweet wines made in a special, magical site. 

Today I am even more convinced that cryoextraction/cryoselection should have no place in the Quarts de Chaume. If conditions during the harvest are so difficult – over 200mm of rain in October 2012, for example, then there should be no Quarts de Chaume made/declared that year. Instead it can de declared as Coteaux du Layon, assuming that the wine meets this appellation's less rigorous criteria. If you want to use cryoextraction – fine but sell it as Vin de France just as an increasing number of producers do for other wines that do not fit into appellation rules. 

Although there is no definition for 'natural' wine its success as shown by enthusiasm of wine lovers who attend fairs like RAW and the Real Wine Fair is that there is a demand for authenticity, for wines made without large scale technological intervention. These wine lovers would expect Quarts de Chaume to be made as naturally as possible and not to be a product of freezing.   

  

Sign for Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru – to stay or be removed?


Western end of Quarts de Chaume AC with Saint Aubin in the background

My ‘inquisitorial’ questions to Jean Baumard

Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: 9.10.12@15.03.39 Terraces 

 

Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: 9.10.12@14.57.45 Terraces view across Layon through the foliage

Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: 9.10.12@15.11.46 Terraces – view over vignes larges to southside of the Layon.

 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: 9.10.12@15.13.59 Terraces

Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume: 9.10.12@14.56.08 Terraces

1er tri: 15/16th October 2012

2er et dernier tri: 25th October 2012

Occasionally a kissed frog will turn into a princess but not very often...

I put the following three questions (below) to Jean Baumard on 14th February 2013. They were dismissed as 'inquisitorial'.

'Permit me to ask you a few questions about the 2012 please?

a) At the time of picking what was the average potential alcohol of the grapes from the 1er tri picked 15th or 16th October?

b) At the time of picking what was the average potential alcohol of the grapes from the 2eme tri picked around 25th October?

c) What percentage of your total Quarts de Chaume harvest did the 1er tri represent?

Obviously M Baumard is under no obligation to answer my questions, although I have over the past 24 years asked similar questions about potential alcohols, yields etc. of many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of producers not just of Loire producers but around the globe. All have been happy to answer. 

However, Jean and Florent Baumard surely have a duty to assure their distributors, agents and potential customers that in 2012 they have satisfied the ripeness requirements as laid down in the 2011 Cahier des Charges for the Quarts de Chaume. Was the required minimum of 298 grams of sugar per litre achieved on the vine or was it augmented by cryoselection/cryoextraction?

I have been accused on several occasions of claiming that cryoselection/ cryoextraction/cryoextraction sélective is now banned per se in the Quarts de Chaume. I have been very careful not to say this as the 22nd November 2011 Décret for Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru permits the lowering of the temperature of the grapes to below -5˚C until and including the 2019 harvest. This practice will be banned from 2020, although lowering the temperature of the grapes to just above -5˚C will still be permitted. 

However, the grapes for Quarts de Chaume have to have reached the required ripeness levels on the vine before the use of any process that lowers the temperature is permitted if it is to be declared as Quarts de Chaume. The décret's cahier des charges requires that a record is kept of the maturity of the grapes when picked as well as the number of tris (pickings). This can be subject to an inspection in the vineyard by the INAO.

Previous posts on Domaine des Baumard's 2012 Quarts de Chaume here, here and here.