The new Baudry release! I could not resist. And it is irresistible. I mean really, who does not want to try anything Baudry, especially a cuvee that is aged in concrete rather than wood?! This is pure expression of Cabernet Franc. And it is a beauty. Seems like a cross between the fleshy ripeness of Guillot and the more classic, restrained, earth and mineral-driven Grezeaux. This is a ripe year in Loire but this wine really is quite well balanced. Wide range of reds and darks on this one, in this year. Lovely wine. (92 pts.)
Not fair!! I’ve always liked the stuff but the 2015 tastes better than previous vintages to me at least.
Actually it reminded me strongly of Sociando Mallet. Which would make La Singulière the equivalent of La Cuvée Jean Gautreau - sounds fair to me. You should try one of the latter.
Anyway no need to worry about Raffault being overripe in 2015.
I found Raffault’s wines too rustic and with pyrazines a bit out of touch with the wines. I might not be the only one since they’re so easy to come buy with age and at low prices. I tried the 2005 and famous 2014. While I found the 2014 much better I just really didn’t get much enjoyment out of them.
But it is all question about style preferences. Most of my CF collection is from La Porte Saint Jean and Baudry, with a few bottles from Roches Neuves (Franc de Pied), Chateau Yvonne and Antoine Sanzay (i have not tasted these in a while though). Should give you an idea of my style preferences
Appreciate the note on the new cuvée. It sounds great! Are you comparing it to the 2020 vintage of Grezeaux and Clos Guillot in regards to ripeness in your comments? I just recently received my 2020 bottles of these and haven’t tasted one yet.
With Raffault I have found you take a chance getting bottles with Brett. I don’t personally mind the pyrazines as much but my tolerance for Brett has gone down as I travel on my wine journey. Everyone has various levels of things they are comfortable with. I am curious to try the cuvée Julian mentioned, La Singulier. I’ve never seen it available here though.
Interested to try it, but La Singulière sees a fair bit of new oak, which is not necessarily what I want in traditional Chinon. Rougeard pulls it off on Le Clos and Les P but friends of mine that have experienced multiple vintages of the Bourg says it shows. I do not have enough data points to comment on that.
Somehow I’m not surprised! You should try Frédéric Mabileau’s wines. As for Raffault, I enjoyed the 2014 but the 15 is better IMHO.
I think you would enjoy La Singulière - it does spend 24 months in oak barrels, but they’re used, not new. I’ve never noticed the oak anyway, and I normally would. It’s just a bit plusher and more concentrated than Les Picasses - hence my Cuvée JG comparison.
This is my first experience with this and I am totally impressed. Juicy red fruits with hints of blackberry coming in at the end. The pyrazines were fleeting, which I was not expecting. Beautifully long finish with drying tannins which was a given with the young age. How does this compare with the Grezeaux and Le Clos Guillot? I love Chinon, but prefer the pyrazines on the lighter side.
Just as an anecdote, I just spent the weekend in Burgundy with some friends (they like wine, but that’s it), and one of the group, who doesn’t really how to know to describe the wines he tastes, is super super sensitive to this - on 1/3 of the 30 wines tasted, he called them out as tasting as smelling like horse manure, etc - remarkable. Also the guy that cannot stand the slightest smell of cigarettes (we were sitting at the back of Bout du Monde in Beaune, which is half open air and people can smoke).
Made me realize I am not at all sensitive - and have never tasted it in for instance Baudry contrary to others here it seems.
I have an extremely sensitive palate, but Brett doesn’t bother me generally. It bothers my wife, though, and it has taken her a long time to appreciate Loire reds.
What does bother me is diacetyl (that is the flavor/smell that one associates with artificial butter flavor in microwave popcorn, for those who don’t know). I can detect it in very minute quantities, and find it extremely objectionable. Any time someone makes popcorn in a microwave, I have to leave the building, wherever I am.
Hear hear, I’m rather sensitive to diacetyl as well. Its aroma actually doesn’t bother me that much in whites, but if it is present in noticeable concentrations in red wines, I generally tend to dislike the character.
Many people seem to recognize diacetyl only when its presence is so noticeable that it lends that unmistakable buttery / lactic note to the wine. However, in more minute concentrations it doesn’t have any of that buttery character (and this aroma isn’t actually just artificial butter, because diacetyl is the main aromatic compound of real butter, too!), but it instead boosts those sweeter fruit notes. The impact of this in white wines isn’t usually unpleasant to me, but in red wines it adds this odd, artificial jelly-kind of sweetness to the fruit aromas. Only in very high concentrations it lends this creamy note to the wine as well.
Many times I’ve wondered how people in a tasting can comment how the nose in a red wine is so ripe or fruity or jammy or something along those lines and I have to restrain myself from screaming “can’t you smell the wine is all about diacetyl?!”
Anyways, if a wine smells of butter or microwave popcorn, you really can’t say there are minute amounts of diacetyl. If you find your wine in the butter department, at that point there are copious amounts of diacetyl!
It does bother me in whites, enough to make me question why winemakers in some regions don’t just skip the malolactic fermentation entirely. I realize this might make the wines sweeter, but I’d rather have a tasty, tangy demi-sec than a buttery sec…
