My experience (and that of Ian Fitzsimmons recently) is that it is impossible to insulate oneself on this board from criticism for opening a bottle too young, but let me try: I sell wine. This was a sample of a new release for me to assess the wine for possible purchase and sale. It is way too young. This cuvee is usually tightly coiled and requires many years to develop and show much of what it has to offer. At this stage, it usually leaves one’s gums sucked dry and quivering from acids and tannins. Only a masochist (idiot?) would open a bottle at this stage, even if it is a sample. There are no excuses for opening this wine this young. Period.
TN: The most open and accessible young Croix Boissee that I have ever tasted. Florals and tobacco on the nose, and pretty red fruit on the palate, inflected with earth and tobacco (some green tobacco, but in an attractive, beguiling way). It leaves a lovely finishing perfume in the mouth (and one’s gums dry). I liked this much, much more than the 2011 Franc de Pied. Samples of the 2011 Clos Guillot and Grezeaux are teed up.
Disclaimer: I sell Baudry wines (and, based upon this sample, will be selling the 2011 Croix Boissee).
I’ve been hearing good things about this for some time now, but have yet to pull the trigger. Seems like a case purchase is more than warranted. Your feedback has likely pushed me over the edge, so thank you (from me) and piss off (from my better half).
Tim, if it is any consolation, my better half described this wine as “beautiful.” A case purchase of this would not be a bad idea at all as I believe that it will offer many years of delicious drinking.
I am looking forward to your impressions of the 2011 Grezeaux. As I told you the other day, a 2010 Grezeaux I had with dinner during the week was stunning. Here on the East Coast, it is Cab Franc weather.
Spencer, this wine just needs a corkscrew, and that should hold true for about 20 years or so. That said, it should really be lovely in about 10 years when some secondary aromas/flavors begin to appear. It’s transparent wine, so what is there is on full display.
Hey, thanks for the note. I picked up an 11 Guillot recently, then 3 more 11 Boissee also. I still remember drinking the 10 Boissee about a year ago and the aromatics and reaction in the table of 4 of us that were enjoying the bottle. Without this forum, I would not know about Baudry.
The 2010 Grezeaux is outstanding, best of the Baudry cuvées in '10, IMHO. Just pulled one of out of storage last week just for fun. Keep posting notes on the '11s, Martin! Thanks!
2011 Grezeaux sample tonight: Relative to the Croix Boissee, the fruit is darker here, and it is denser, firmer and more tannic. This definitely has a five o’clock shadow to it. I prefer the “prettier,” riper, more open, transparent and nuanced Croix Boissee. Reasonable people could differ, of course, but I believe that most would find the Croix Boissee to be a more complete wine, which is reflected in the price ($22ish vs. $30ish).
Your descriptors really set up the interesting distinction with Baudry cuvees. The Boisee and Guillot do, IMHO, tend to be far prettier, more elegant wines, though still with some power, especially Boissee. The Grezeaux, in the vintages I have tried, 2005, 09 and 10, is far more rustic. My country palate leans more toward Grezeaux, though intellectually I think Guillot and Boissee are qualitatively better wines. Nice to have that range of choice from a vintner whose wines range to $40 retail at the very high end!
Would love to have history with this estate with mature wines like I do with other major Chinon producers like Joguet, Raffault, etc. I have no doubt, however, that the recent vintages of Baudry, especially 2010, will mature into stunners and hold for quite some time.
If you’re in the business, it seems there’s a professional obligation to open some wines young, in order to advise your clientele on the basis of your own judgement.
If you’re an amateur, I don’t see how you can build some ability over the long run to judge vins de garde in their youth, according to your own tastes, without trying some of them before they are ready for culinary consumption. Without an experiential basis for forming one’s own opinions, the buyer is forever at the mercy of other reviewers’ views.
I’d clean out your local shop. I had the 2009 about a year ago, and it was probably the best single bottle of Baudry I’ve ever had. Rich and warmly fruited as you’d expect from the vintage, but plenty of focus, a knockout nose, and the formidable structure to keep it evolving beautifully for years and years. A real legend in the making from the Loire, that one.
Oh, lord have mercy, this 2011 Boissee is so good. Pours electric purple and then it’s got the cab franc aromatics and then a palate of bright, razzy blue and purple fruit. What a treat, and it’s been open just about 30 mins.
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