Tasted some Blot recently, I find it quite undervalued in the proposed table of the topic.
I also have the opportunity to get some Picasse 2015 at a great price (10€) has someone tasted this vintage ? I’m gonna order at this price in any case but might go long or not.
Blot’s wines are good but they can be a bit bretty.
By Picasses 2015 do you mean the Olga Raffault one? I haven’t tasted it but at 10€ you should load up the truck - the normal ex-domaine price is 15€. Even if you mean the Coulaine Picasses it’s well worth getting.
Yeah I meant the Raffault one.
No Brett in the Blots I have tasted so far. We’ll see in the future, it’s also a domaine where I can get wines at a very low prices so I’ll have the opportunity to open plenty of wines.
Agree wholeheartedly. I just reeeeaaaalllly love Croix Boissee. 
![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Raffault at that price would be at least a case purchase; would probably go for 2 or 3 cases if, after sampling a bottle, it proves to be one of the good vintages for that bottling.
The 2018 Croix Boissee has not been released yet, right?
Not yet. I haven’t even seen the 2017 yet. I will be skipping the 2018.
2017 on WDC: https://www.wine.com/product/bernard-baudry-chinon-la-croix-boissee-2017/697706
Why skipping 18?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t '18 heralded as a great vintage for Loire Valley CF when released? ![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
The other 2018 Loire Cab Franc that I’ve had didn’t endear themselves to me, I’ll wait and taste Baudry’s '18 LCB before I purchase which I would normally buy blindly.
It’s a pretty ripe year. I’ve had some disappointments, but did like the Baudry Les Grez. I have confidence buying Croix Boissee.
Your question of it being heralded as a great vintage, really does highlight the problem with many of the critics that we hear from these days. They seem to like these big ripe opulent vintages. That is exactly what many of us do not want in Loire. Honestly, most critics suck ass on Loire Cab Franc.
Ah I see. In that case, I agree as I do like leaner CFs rather than rich heavy style. Guess I’ll have to try some of the '18s to see how I like them. Thanks for the comment as always!
The 2017 is in the US. I bought a 4 pack and drank one. It’s really good but needs time.
I will be skipping 2018 as well, waiting on 2019.
Max, et al.,
I’m skipping '18 because I don’t like what I’ve heard about it being a monstrously large vintage, and the one '18 Baudry I’ve had (either Grezeaux or Granges — can’t remember) was perfectly in-line with the vintage’s reputation. Context: I do prefer bigger years in Loire (2005; 2007; 2010; 2015) — but, really, I like ripe fruit in a tighter package; my favorite Loire C.F.s have similar structure as Left Bank Bdx., which is a huge part of what I love about Croix Boissee. … But that '18 I had was simply an overblown mess.
All of that having been said, if I can try one '18 CB for $40 or less, I’ll likely do it, particularly because Grezeaux and Granges are not the Baudry bottlings I tend towards (Boissee and Guillot). I sometimes appreciate the Grezeaux, but it comes across very Pessac to me, and I pretty much always want the Pessac instead (granted, more $$$ for the Bdx). Granges has never spoken to me.
Cool to see '17 CB is here now; I’ll hold-off for a bit, waiting to see if one of my regular sources gets it. My patience will likely run dry in a couple months.
Baudry’s LCB 2018 has been released here for 28€, the same as the 16 and 17, I think. I got a couple, but I shall taste it before buying more. I’ve only tried a handful of 18s so far, not enough to get a clear picture, but they certainly need longer to mature than usual, so I have focussed more on buying 16 and 17. If I was ten years younger I would be buying more 2018s, but I’m not!
Keenly interested in your opinion on the '18!
Ok Julian, our resident Loire master, you must sacrifice one of the alter of Odin, and report back to Berserkers, ASAP.
I normally would go direct for and drink-test Baudry’s Grezeaux in most vintages, before buying LCBs for long term keeping, but last year I decided to buy a couple of the 2018 Granges first. Very ripe and too concentrated for my taste, enveloping any Loire typicality that I like. I passed on pursuing the Grezeaux.
OK, OK, I’ll sacrifice a LCB 18 next week! One thing I can tell you already is that the alcohol level is slightly higher than usual - 14°, as opposed to 13.5° in 16 and 15, 13° in 2017.
Le Clos Guillot is higher still - 14.3°, one of the highest I’ve seen. Grézeaux is 13.5°.
Higher levels are not really a surprise but this is not actually the case across the board - the Roches Neuves are all 13.5°, as are most Amirault, for example.
Well, curiosity got the better of me and next week became this week! I have a relative blind spot concerning LCB, because older vintages are hard to come by over here, unlike other wines, and their prices are very high, so to get a clear idea, I opened a 2006 as well as the 2018. I decanted the latter in the morning, but only opened the 2006 in the evening.
Domaine Bernard Baudry - La Croix Boissée - Chinon 2006
Spring flowers, a hint of leather and redcurrant aromas, then a bright but crisp attack of red berries, mainly redcurrant, with the red cherry coming behind, lifting elegantly into a rich but restrained crescendo of richer tastes, now with hints of raspberry and just a touch of blackcurrant, before a well-rounded, persistent but crisp finale which leans back towards the redcurrant. Perhaps the faintest hint of brett, but what is striking is the underlying chalkiness, together with a strict framework which allows the fruit to shine without letting it spill over into any sense of syrupiness.
Domaine Bernard Baudry - La Croix Boissée - Chinon 2018
Literally mouth-watering notes of raspberry and red cherry, in fact just writing this makes my mouth water again, remembering them. The aromas are so good that it took me a while to go any further, and I’m not generally that patient, but also the nose is immediately reassuring - this is not a fruit-bomb - there is a tension there too, plus some strong notes of sweet peas, to show that this is not going to disappoint.
The attack is fresh, crisp and crunchy, just like a Roches Neuves, with raspberry, dark cherry, a little blackberry, before a strong wave of sour cherry takes over. There is certainly a lot of fruit, but it is under control, well-restrained by the framework and chalkiness in the background. The elegance is there too, with a beautiful middle section where the raspberry dominates, but within the limits set by the framework and the finish is just sensational, very long and sweet, but this is the sweetness of an organic wine, so without excessive sugar.
Tasting them together was fascinating. They were clearly from the same producer and the same plot, there was a definite sense of place and typicity, so whether or not you believe in “terroir”, these were good examples of how the origins of a wine can transcend a vintage. The 2006 simply tasted more mature than the 2018, but the latter was just as true to its origins as the former.
As to which one was better - well, the 2018 impressed me more. Obviously it is too young to enjoy properly now, but the potential is huge. The fruit needs time to settle down, but it has a volume and intensity that the 2006 does not have. Once again however, I must stress that the volume is not over-blown, it is kept firmly under control by the framework - I keep using that term because it is so appropriate - the Baudrys have made a 2018 which is not at all like some 2005s I have tasted, there is no Parkerish high octane gloopiness. So yes, the 2006 is leaner, it is a lovely wine in its own right, but unless you really don’t want ripe flavours at all, the 2018 will go further.
The chalkiness defined both wines as Chinons, but I was struck by how similar the profiles were to that of a Roches Neuves - the 2018 could easily have been a Les Mémoires.
The 2006 has 13.5° alcohol, the 2018 has 14°, and there is no perceptible difference. The 2018 has enough acidity and chalkiness to ensure that it will never collapse into the gloopy syrup flavours of so many Bordeaux 2009s, for example.
Overall, this confirmed what I thought already - the 2018, like those of other producers, is a good bet if you are 50 or younger. It needs a good ten years to shine properly and probably fifteen. For those like me who are a little more “mature”, I would opt for the 2016 or the 2017, which will be more enjoyable younger, but I would bet on the 2018 being the better wine - I thought it was sensational.