Meza Wine Club: February 2026
Enthusiast Bubbles
Wine 1: Domaine Baumard Cremant
A blend of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, Carte Turquoise has been produced at the Domaine since 1957. The wine agedon its lees for over a year before disgorgement.
Bright and fruity with invigorating flavors of lemon zest, it is fresh and yet substantial. Tucked away in the village of Rochefort-sur-Loire, just south of the town of Savennieres is Domaine des Baumard. Founded by the Baumard family in 1634, the estate is considered a reference point for Savennieres and the sweet wines of Coteaux du Layon. Currently managed by the third generation of the family, Florent farms in an organic manner and believes in minimal intervention in the vineyard and in the cellar. Yields are kept low (generally 1.5 -2.5 tons per acre) and the grapes are hand-harvested and pressed as quickly as possible to preserve freshness and aroma. Starting with the 2005 vintage,
“Florent Baumard is a brilliant winemaker. If he had been born a Californian, Burgundian or Bordelais, wealthy vineyard owners would be standing in line to employ his services as a consultant...a young, handsome, ever-smiling sort, Baumard quietly fashions some of the world's most complex dry and sweet wines in the sleepy village of Rochefort-sur-Loire.” ~ Pierre Rovani, Wine Advocate
Wine 2: Terres Dorées, Crémant de Bourgogne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Charme
Jean Paul Brun is located in Charnay, a village in the Southern Beaujolais just north of Lyons, in a beautiful area known as the "Region of Golden Stones". Brun is the owner and winemaker at this 40-acre family estate and has attracted the attention of the French and American press for the wonderfully fruity and delicate wines he produces. Brun wants to make "old-style" Beaujolais and his vinification differs from the prevailing practices in the region. He believes that the charm of Gamay's fruit is best expressed by the grapes' indigenous yeasts, rather than by adding industrial yeast. Virtually all Beaujolais is now made by adding a particular yeast during fermentation. Known as 71B, this yeast is a laboratory product made in Holland from a tomato base, which imparts wines with banana and candy aromas. It produces a beverage, but with no authenticity and little charm. Brun, on the other hand, wants to make a pure Gamay wine. Brun's view is that Beaujolais drinks best at a lower degree of alcohol and that there is no need to systematically add sugar to the must (chaptalize) to reach alcohol levels of 12 to 13 degrees. His Beaujolais is made to be pleasurable - light, fruity and delicious - not an artificially inflated wine that shines at tasting competitions. Only a minimal amount of S02 is used at bottling to keep the wine fresh and "headache-free". Fermentation naturally produces a lot of CO2, which acts as protection against oxidation during aging; leaving some in the wine at bottling time also helps to keep it fresh. Filtration is also minimal so that the wine keeps its original fruit and aromas. Brun’s wines are not ‘blockbusters’ in the sense of ‘big.’ The emphasis is not on weight, but on fruit: Beaujolais as it once was and as it should be. Brun’s Nouveaus were rated as the top Nouveau of the vintage by France’s Gault Millau magazine several years in a row.