TN: 2019 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot

Baudry’s Brett roulette was kind to me today. This was squeaky clean, with a core of ripe plum overlapping hints of tree bark, floral and subtle bell pepper. This was tasty and juicy enough to pair well with the creaminess of an Azeitão cheese, but I was expecting to be roundhouse kicked in the face by something a bit more sauvage and austere. Instead I got a frankly civilized, appropriately ripe red I might have mistaken for a 10€ Dão in a blind tasting (right down to the Touriga-ish violets). It’s certainly up my alley, but I had different expectations. Not sure if this needs time, but it felt extremely drinkable already.

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As I re-read the TN by Tomás, the more I realize that he pretty much nailed what Baudry’s Le Clos Guillot is about. I can relate based on the few other vintages I’ve had.
Minor caveat: I still have to try having Azeltão cheese with it.

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I always find Le Clos Guillot to be drinkable young and somewhat riper than other cuvees.

Bingo, me too. For lack of a better word, it’s the most round and supple of all the Baudry cuvées.

Interesting. From what I recall Grézeaux has much less structure and was more approachable, but I did drink the Clos Guillot 2018 recently and it was a stunner! Any of you have experienced the Croix Boissée in their youth?

Curious what vintage leads you to that assessment. Personally, I find Grezeaux to be quite structured and built for age, like the Croix Boissee. I think 2018 is a ripe beast, so much different than more classic vintages. I had a 2010 Grezeaux recently that was gorgeous, but I will want 3-5 more years on it. Croix Boissee in classic years, treat it like a fine Bordeaux, so give it 15. I do think vintages like 2011, however, we’re delicious and buzzy electric in their youth.

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I opened a 17 Croix Boissée last week, initially it was dominated by oak and what I could only describe as too much cedar and cigar box (if there can be such a thing) to the point of subduing all the other flavors/aromas. It started opening up nicely after 3-4 hrs. The remaining half bottle was singing and substantially more generous on the next day, lip smacking layers of savory tapenade and earthy notes that gave me flashbacks of having Turkish stuffed bell pepper dolmas with a tart cucumber yogurt on the side. Basically needs a decent amount of time and air if peeking early.

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Yeah I was more referring to recent vintages 16-17-18. Haven’t tried older bottles of this producer yet. I drank a lot of 2017 Grezeaux, where after one bottle of 2018 I decided to lay down the rest!

Yes. Why do you ask?

I have a few 2016’s & 2018’s. I was wondering if it’s worth opening one now :slight_smile:

'18 – absolutely not. I opened one a few weeks ago to find out for myself. Some healthy conversation about my experience resides in the Loire red wine thread. TLDR: I found it to be extremely ripe, and fairly anonymous.

'16 – I don’t know. I have one at home that is in the queue for drinking, but haven’t gotten around to it yet; I expect to sometime soon. I’m expecting it to be quite enjoyable, so long as it’s not closed-down.


With the Croix Boissee, my experience drinking them young (granted, somewhere around 5 different vintages – so not extensive experience) is typically that they come across as delicious, but with the apparent potential to be so much better with age. I always try to drink at least one young.

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Personally I always find more structure in both Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissée, reflecting their limestone origins, than in Les Grézeaux, but the latter is certainly well ahead of the “lesser” cuvées in terms of its aging potential and it regularly exceeds expectations.

To be honest I tend to leave all of them for as long as possible. It won’t be long before I get started on my 2003s! [cheers.gif]

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i opened a 2018 guillot…and was rather blown away (in a good way). it feels like itll be a real legend in the future and its a giant fruit bomb today.

i opened a 2015 a week or two ago and felt it was a bit thin, a bit brett-y and a bit too acidic for my taste. seems like 2015 was not the best loire vintage?

You know, somehow, I might trust Chris’ take on this. Personally, I find that these three wines have different characters, but similar aging potentials.

Interesting take by Chris, I do not agree. I think it’s a coin flip on Boissee and Grezeaux on structure, but Guillot to me is a more fleshy wine, perhaps showing that the vineyards really are still quite young (planted 1993-2000). I cannot find the quote right now, but I recall reading where Bernard commented that in more classic years, Grezeaux is his most classic cuvee. I also think it is more of the archetype for Chinon than the other two, but will concede Croix Boissee hits higher highs. Grezeaux has the older vines, at 65+ Years. I buy Boisse and Grezeaux every year but Guillot only in selected years. In 2019 I grabbed a full case of Grezeaux, it’s excellent.

Good info on the website:

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Interesting stuff. I find terroir to be a significant driver of style with Cabernet Franc, so much so that I find structural similarities in wines from limestone terroirs in Chinon when compared with Cabernet-Merlot blends from the limestone slopes around Cadillac in Bordeaux; indeed I find more similarities there than I do between limestone cuvées of Chinon (such as Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissée) and the wines from gravel valley-floor sites such as Les Grézeaux. But there is no doubt they all have the structure to age, and I am happy to buy and drink all of them.

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Yeah, the Guillot is clearly a fleshier wine, and feels like it’s an earlier drinker. I always attributed this to soil type rather than vine age, but what do I know. (yes, the Guillot has some limestone–yellow rather than white, but also has more sand, which is why they tried own rooted cab franc there). That being said, I haven’t had an over the hill bottle of any of the three yet.

(As an aside, I just learned in re-reading Baudry info that Matthieu is making an own-rooted wine again. I thought he was done with that.)

It’s sandy in parts, but there is also clay (quite deep clay in parts), but it’s the limestone that defines the site for me. When I last checked there were still ungrafted vines at Le Clos Guillot; some failed and were pulled up, but in the section just to the southeast of the house that sits there the soils are more sandy and these vines were doing OK. There is somewhere between 0.15 and 0.2 hectares. The fruit is just blended in with the rest of the crop from the vineyard as there isn’t enough to merit its own cuvée. Just one caveat - although I visited Mathieu only a few weeks ago we haven’t spoken about these vines for a few years, so things may have moved on.

You’re correct in that he has planted franc de pied once again, but this time Grolleau, in two 0.2-hectare parcels. I think there may be more by now but I don’t have the notes from my most recent visit to hand.

Baudry pic.jpg
Not sure if the detail is clear enough to see, but the attached pic shows the soil from which each Baudry bottling comes. I took this in early May when my wife and I visited the domaine.

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Seconded.