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About Domaine Bernard Baudry
Stars Align—A Full House from “…One of the Leading Domaines of the Appellation…” [Chris Kissack]
** Producteur de très grands vins Les Meilleurs Vins de France 2021 (The equal-highest rated domaine in Chinon)
“While they are sometimes labelled traditionalists, I find them to be more naturalists. Everything here is organic, harvested by hand and bottled without fining or filtration. In any case, theirs is a style that I admire: they make cabernet franc taste as suave and succulent as pinot noir.” Joel B. Payne, Vinous
“Bernard Baudry is, here and now, one of the leading domaines of the appellation. Some would say the leading domaine of the appellation. The wines are of exceptionally high quality…” Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor
“These [2018] are wines most Chinon vignerons can only dream about. I asked Matthieu if it was like any other vintage he had experienced, and he was clear it wasn’t. Later on, his father Bernard joined us as we tasted our final wine; I put the same question to him, and the answer was the same… The 2018 La Croix Boissée, still in barrel at the time of tasting, is an astonishing, tear-jerking, appellation-defining wine…” Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor
I recently caught up with Matthieu Baudry who had just returned from a family holiday in Corsica. Even down a telephone line, I was immediately reminded that, despite being one of the Loire’s great collegiate growers, you would have to search far and wide to find a grower as humble as this. Perhaps ironic, then, that his current releases are anything but modest.
If you look past the threat of spring frost, a series of benign warm vintages has helped elevate this grower’s northern Cabernet Franc to new heights of silky, perfumed elegance and depth. Despite the current challenges posed by the changing climate, the intense, artisanal farming means this grower’s vines are revelling in sunny benevolence. “I don’t have to drop as much fruit these days,” says Baudry, “We’ve almost forgotten about those Cabernet Franc green pepper flavours. The textbooks might need to be updated!”
Chris Kissack captures the mood surrounding 2018 in the quote above. A powerful year, well-timed light rains in August help shape an extraordinary range of wines chez Baudry—Août faire le vin. The top two cuvées from this year—offered below—are frankly, off the charts. This is chiselled, leviathan and balanced organic Chinon the like of which has never been seen before at this address. Baudry believes these wines will age for 30 years, perhaps longer, although the balance is there even today.
As in Saumur (as noted earlier this year) 2019 in Chinon was cut from a similar cloth as 2018. A frost and solar year with reduced yields was tempered by a cooler August, and has provided crisp, concentrated acidity to balance the fruit’s phenolic ripeness. This confluence of beguiling lift, compact fruit and incandescent drive has also raised the Domaine and Les Grézeaux bottlings into top-level territory.
When our conversation dangerously cut into le déjeuner (lunch is still upheld as sacrosanct in the French countryside) we didn’t dwell on 2020. But at this stage all we need to know is at the pointy end of a corkscrew. What we can tell you is the 2020 Les Granges is buzzing with luscious fruit and freshness, and the stars aligned for Baudry to craft a relatively plentiful release of his divine rosé.
