Coteaux Du Layon - Chaume

Chaume

The village of Chaume is situated in the western part of the Coteaux du Layon area in the commune of Rochefort-sur-Loire. The village of Chaume used to be one of the villages which could add its name to the appellation name, to be sold as Coteaux du Layon Chaume. The requirements for Chaume were slightly higher than for the other villages. In 2003, INAO elevated Chaume to its own AOC under the name Chaume Premier Cru des Coteaux du Layon. This choice of name was somewhat unusual for the region, since no other Loire appellation (in difference from for example Burgundy AOCs) bear the designation Premier Cru or Grand Cru as part of their AOC name. Therefore, the decision was protested by some other Loire producers, and in 2005 the Conseil d'État annulled INAO's rules for the new appellation, temporarily returning Chaume to its pre-2003 status. In 2007, the AOC was created anew, now under the shorter and less controversial name of Chaume and covering 130 hectares (320 acres). The vintages 2005 and 2006 were allowed to carry the new name. Interestingly enough, the must weight and residual sugar requirements for the new Chaume appellation were set higher than for Quarts de Chaume. However, Quarts de Chaume AOC producers still felt that the close association between their AOC's name and Chaume was causing damage to the value of their wines and continued to object to the AOC naming, and brought the new AOC to court as well, where it was annulled in May 2009, which would mean that the wine would be back to Coteaux du Layon status. In December 2009 it looked like the controversy would be resolved by the regional committee of INAO by Chaume being allowed to call itself Premier Cru, while Quarts de Chaume would be called Grand Cru.