LOIRE (6) : BATAILLE DU QUARTS DE CHAUME TERMINÉE
From JIM BUDD — DECANTER e-newsletter — Wednesday March 12, 2014
Loire winemakers win Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru battle.
France’s highest court has quashed opposition to the creation of a Quarts de Chaume as a Grand Cru in the Loire, and producers hope it could prove a blueprint for the region.
The Conseil d’Etat, France’s top public administrative court, has rejected Domaine des Baumard‘s long-running legal challenge to the new Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru of 2011, as well as to the Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume.
« I am delighted by this decision, which brings to an end a conflict that has gone on for 20 years, » said Claude Papin, president of the Syndicat des Producteurs de Quarts de Chaume. « Quarts de Chaume has long had a very special reputation. The Loire now has a grand cru and a premier cru. This clear hierarchy may now serve for other special sites in the Layon. » (suite…)