2017 Brick House Evelyn’s PN
Brought to neighborhood party so didn’t spend a lot of time with this, but certainly could tell good purity of fruit and length. Still early in the drinking window.
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2022 Caymus 50th Anniversary Napa Valley Cab Sauv.
Goodness, this is some vile swill. This was a door prize at some event or other. Godawful. Unfortunately I also have another bottle, one full liter, that I was given at the same event by some generous soul.
Any takers? Pickup in SoCal. Will trade for a bottle of Vinho Verde.
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This has softened somewhat since my last bottle around 2 years ago. Not the overachiever I was hoping for, but an inoffensive quaff.
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Make mulled wine for Xmas. Lots of cranberry and blood orange. I think that works for the inlaws and the relatives.
I’m surprised to say this, but I have to give the nod to the ripe but structured years like 2005 and 2010 but not the riper years like 2018. Now that said, I do not have the same experience with mature Baudry as I do with, say, Joguet, Breton, Lenoir, Raffault. I have not had any Baudry older than 20. Incidentally, a recent 2011 Baudry Franc de Pied was fabulous, and that is not a ripe year.
Very marine, incredibly chalky and phenolic with great tension - painfully young. A lot of material here. Very Dauvissat… The Tribut wines seem to be steadily improving. I would be curious to learn more about any recent developments at this domaine.
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Go down to the nearest golf course or poker game and you’ll probably find some dudes to take it off your hands lol
I was given that once. It makes one heck of a good sauce for short ribs.
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I think Baudry wines age beautifully, in both ripe and lean years. For example, La Croix Boissée 2006 is still going strong and will do so for some time to come. The leaner years are just crisper, more elegant, with more subtle fruit and more obvious chalkiness.
When I started getting into Loire CFs, I kept having nice surprises with older wines from less celebrated vintages, because I never believed they could age for more than 10-12 years, and one of the things I have learnt is the incredible length of their plateaux of maturity, no matter the vintage (well apart from the really crappy ones, but you just proved with the Plouzeau that some producers can even transcend a vintage as bad as 2013!).
The only relatively recent ripe vintage I have some doubts about is 2009, some of which are turning jammy, like their Bordeaux counterparts. I share your concerns about 2018 for the same reason, but not however for Baudry’s Croix Boissée, which so far is ageing beautifully - fingers crossed!
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Baudry Grezeaux and Croix Boissee are the real deal in Cab Franc aging.
Those mid-90s I’ve had this decade stood toe-to-toe with great ones from same vintages of Clos Rougeard.
Those from early 2000s are terrific today. The 2002 Croix Boissee, from a magnum, was generously served blind by Bernard/Matthieu 2 years ago in their tasting room evoked power and grace. Excitedly holding onto on to my last 2005 CB as the bottle I opened late last year was crazy good and clearly indicate that it has years to keep going.
I stayed clear of the 2018s and recent tastes have shown that the solar qualities I wasn’t fond of that showed at release have not dissipated with recent tastes, as exemplified by the CB I had 3 dinners ago. Fwiw, in the same flight was a 2018 Sanzay Saumur Beauregard, a mistake send by an online merchant, and it was even worse. 2018 was an aberration in the region that doesn’t give me much hope for the future.
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First bottle of Raats Family Cabernet Franc today.
Medium garnet, more mature looking than I expected. Slight nose of cherry, earth and cedar. Feels more Bordeaux than Loire. Discrete on opening, but became increasingly cedary and fragrant over time. Very enjoyable.
Opened this 1999 Gaja Sorì Tildìn for last night’s main/meat course (the menu was a 5-course dinner featuring white Alba truffles flown in from Piedmont by a chef-restaurateur friend not 24 hours before). Decanted for sediment and an hour’s breathing in my cav at home, before returning to bottle to bring to the restaurant. Sublime red, hauntingly perfumed, wonderfully balanced, perfect for my main course.
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No need to worry, Croix Boissée is excellent in 2009:
2009 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (9/27/2025)
Double decanted a few hours prior to consumption. This seems to be in a spot where it was resolved and expressive. Tart, pure red fruits over chalk. Acidity frames the fruit and carries it over a slightly darker palate with savory notes. These is nice finishing grip of fine tannin. Really everything I had hoped it would be. (95 points)
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Agree 100% with this.
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This was a fun night. Favs were the 08 Bolly, the Pierre Peters, Ganevat…I think I missed some of the white burgs as I was off yapping, the mouton and corison were great from the late flight.
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First bottle I’ve opened of 100% Meunier – aroma of crushed rock, with a slightly smoky, herbaceous flavor, and great acidity. Don’t have a photo of the pour, but quite good with a mild preparation of our homemade palak paneer.
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Nice stuff! This is really the only New World producer of Cab Franc that I like. And I like it a lot. The red Jasper is a killer value.
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