2014 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (11/16/2017)
Popped and poured, youthful purple/ruby. Funky, reductive nose shows notes of cherry fruits, tobacco, freshly tilled soil and herbaceous spice. Medium-plus body, quenching acidity. Red-fruited palate is tinged with menthol, green, talcum powder and shows a medicinal quality. Surprisingly open and accessible, with tannins slightly chalky yet rounded and smooth on the lengthy close. Gains in complexity with air and continually expands (seemingly) with each sip taken. Although fun to drink right now, this will be special in 5-10 years, if not absolutely profound.
Night 2: Nose features less funk and a far more “classic” aromatic profile of raspberry, herbaceous green, menthol & cigar ash…silly perfumed. On the palate, still shows flavors of medicinal cherry with a nice savory quality…that said, there’s also quite the impression of minerals and a far greater sense of purity. This is sensational Chinon, a benchmark example of Cab Franc – let the Loire shine!
Smelled like a really funky aged Bordeaux on night 1; transformed into classic Baudry by night 2, absolutely fantastic.
Excellent note, AlexS! I enjoyed it over two nights this past Wednesday and Thursday. A truly excellent, structured Clos Guillott. Clearly an ager. Grezeaux needs even more time. I have not popped any of the Crois Boissee yet.
Don’t even waste one, it was hard as nails. In classic years, I always find Grezeaux the least approachable, and potentially, the cuvee with the most upside. This vintage is built along the lines of 2010, sit on them.
2014 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (2/25/2019)
I’ve accumulated a mixed couple cases of Baudry over the past few five years. I drank some early on and then got into the mental trap that I should not drink them, that some force of the universe was telling me to wait. I’m 53, I’m tired of thinking about wine this way. Reminds me a bit of the same attitude some take towards the Rhys wines (which I have tended to resist as I have been drinking and sampling mine along the way). As an old friend used to say about wine…“they’re not museum pieces, it’s wine. Drink it or put the #### in a museum.” Truth. I opened this 14 Guillot 24 hours ago and a friend of mine came over and we drank through most of it, yet leaving a large enough pour in the bottle overnight under open cork to allow me to write a note this evening. This came out of the fridge at 45f so it needed time to warm up in the glass, so between last night and the open air time this evening, it has ox’d plenty. Like last night, there is a whiff of barnyard here, along with the signature bell pepper and tobacco leaf aromas–pretty cool to smell this as it smells like something, which is wine that brings me joy. It has life within it, something that leaves an impression. Some similar imprints to the palate too, where that green pepper and tobacco infuses through it. Juicy and tangy fruit of raspberry and cherry, herbal. Very approachable with medium weight and easy to drink, too.
The Guillot, IMHO, is the most approachable of the three top Baudry cuvees. I have never blinked an eye about opening one, unlike the other two, which really do need time.
FMIII convinced me to pop one again. I called this one an ager 18 months ago, and while I still think this wine goes long, it is incredibly delicious and approachable right now. The 2015 is more open, but this one is showcasing its goods already, admittedly on night two. It’s flat out excellent. Such a classic vintage for Loire Cab Franc, less forward fruit than the 2015, but more fruit than 2013, and with a deep vein of earth and minerals. Almost a grainy texture. Tobacco, bell pepper and ground cover in spades. Tangy, squishy, tight red-berry fruit.
I’ve come around to this cuvee. In the past I have always preferred the Croix Boissee and the Les Grezeaux, but 2014 and 2015 of this cuvee is showing me it’s their equal right now. If not their equal, it makes the case for why you should be buying all three cuvees. Baudry slays it across the board. This could be one of the most consistent producers on the planet.
Good point. I should have said chopped foie gras. Which reminds me, Marc once came over with the biggest freakin goose liver that I’ve ever seen. It was like five pounds. Like the lung of Andre the Giant. I know we started to eat it, but then forgot what happened. Marc?
Largest Foie Gras ever…Guinness book is still waiting for documentation of visual proof before they can added it to their annal’s…If I recall we passed out for a bit after a temporary period of decreased blood flow to the brain…
I came to first, drank the rest of the wine and bolted…you can thank your lucky stars it happened with me…if it was with Corey you would have woken up sticky, cold, sore and confused.
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