Thanks for this. I don’t think I’ve had Plaisance or Menard, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had Ogereau. I remember their wines being middle of the road and not as electric as the Boudignon style, but I’m sure lots has changed.
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I think the style of the Ogereau wines changed when Emmanuel, Vincent’s son, started getting involved (not sure when). All the 2020s are electric (great description!). Chateau de Plaisance (since the change of ownership) and Pierre Ménard are recent arrivals on the Anjou scene. I would have added Belargus to the list of good producers to try in the same style, but their prices are now at about the same level as Boudignon’s.
Style wise how would folks compare Boudignon to Collier or Guiberteau (for Chenin)?
Guiberteau is one of my favorites. Consistently high quality on the dry side with tight but balanced acidity. Love the flavor depth of Huets but the small amount of rs makes it a different style than Guiberteau.
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Collier and Guiberteau are Saumur, Boudignon is Anjou and Savennières, no?
So not totally apples to apples.
Taking only the Anjou from Boudignon and to my palate and from experience:
Acidity: Boudignon > Guiberteau > Collier
Fruit: Collier > Boudignon > Guiberteau
Minerality: Guiberteau > Boudignon > Collier
Oak*: Collier > Guiberteau > Boudignon
'* depends on vintage
Premox**: Guiberteau > Collier > Boudignon
** based on other sources, I’ve been lucky
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I find Boudignon to be much better balanced than Guiberteau. Guiberteau is mostly acid and oak and perhaps they integrate with age, but they oxidize before you have the chance to find out.
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Re the upper prices some of these Chenin across the region are fetching now it leads me back to Burgundy once it goes over maybe $75 but surely once into three digits. From dry and especially into some of the sweets, Chenin can be pretty amazing and up there with my favorites of the world but the draw for me has historically been the value in terms of the taste combined with potential complexity and the ability to evolve positively with age. However, it was mainly the price delta between it and Burgundy that drew me in. For a long time $30-40 bought a pretty amazing Loire Chenin. Reasonable minds and palates could differ but if I am going to drop over $100 I think nearly every time I could find a Burg I would prefer over Chenin.
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Overrated producer.
There was that other guy some years ago, Richard Leroy something or other, fon fon comic books blah blah blah, suddenly shot up due to hipster demand… lots of positively unsavory bottles, I know people who actually had to go and talk to their GP about acid management afterwards… Probably something Richard should have thought about in the first place but apparently he didn’t 
If he is overrated, who isn’t? His price charts on WB are much more moderately steeped and wobbly than multiple others mentioned in this thread. His already great entry-level wine can be had for around €30.
Wow! Big claim!
Chenin is my go to white varietal and I’m yet to have a Boudignon wine that I love. They feel like “somm wines” to me (very precise, acid-driven, long but lacking in fun). Had a lot of them and sold them all.
To my taste, would rather drink Chateau de Bonnezeau, Bernaudeau or Rougeard Blanc any day of the week. There are also scores of folks who do super interesting nature-orientated Chenin but I know those aren’t in your wheelhouse 
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I first visited Thibaud back in 2014 when he was still working for Soucherie and I think he is a remarkable vigneron, a fastidious, focused and opinionated individual with a real vision. Both Hutte and Fremine were fallow land when he acquired them, which he cleared (including removal of some trees) in order to plant. The first few vintages were plagued by frost hence the installation of the electric anti-frost system (cost, I believe, €30,000 per hectare). If you listen to where his inspiration comes from - he quotes/cites Dagueneau, Foreau and the Foucaults as influential - you can see where he sits (or where I think he sits, anyway) in the Loire hierarchy. I love the wines - I think they typify the “New Anjou” that has come into being in the last 5-10 years, completely eradicating botrytis for a pure, electric, mineral, acid-driven style which makes Anjou the most exciting region in the Loire right now. As others have mentioned, other domaines do offer a similar style (Plaisance under Vanessa Cherruau, Pierre Menard, Belargus, recent Ogereau from Emmanuel) and they do ask for less cash in return, but my personal preference is for Thibaud’s wines over all those.
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Different strokes for different folks, that’s one of the great things about wines.
The good thing about not liking Boudignon is they are easy to get rid of!
I agree. His wines aren’t cheap but it’s not anything crazy.
Who isn’t overrated as in “generally” or in Anjou? Generally, hundreds of thousands of wineries the world over, luckily. In Anjou specifically, many of those mentioned in this thread (Ogereau, Plaisance etc.), or at least to a lesser extent than Boudignon. In my opinion, clearly… If you really like the wines, you’re bound to see it differently, and if you think his Anjou Blanc is “great”, then we clearly like different wines. I will very happily leave his Anjou Blanc on the shelf, pay maybe a couple of EUR more and, hey, can’t believe my luck, I’m drinking Tessa Laroche’s Roche aux Moines.
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So for more money you can get a wine with higher average score you like more… okay, but what does that have to do with anything? You clearly don’t think they’re particularly good wines, which is fine, I happen to think the one cuvee I’ve had was great for the price. I’ve also had Domaine Laroche’s Roches aux Moines and - surprise - it is also great for the price. What insights we’re getting. But not on the key statement - you think he is overrated, but by any reasonable measure he isn’t the most expensive producer in Anjou by a long shot, not the most highly rated in Anjou, and not consistently harder to get than any of the others making good wine in Anjou - not even close. Clearly people who know him as a vigneron thinks highly of him. Of course his wines will appeal differently to different people. But in what sense is he overrated outside of you saying he is?
In what sense is he overrated outside of me saying he is? Well, to begin with, in the sense that even in this very thread there is clearly at least one person who more or less agrees with that sentiment. No skin off my nose really, but, privately, I know other wine lovers who are on the same wavelength. You and some others feel differently. It’s wine we’re talking about, a lot of it is very subjective, so different takes are only to be expected. Not sure what else I can tell you at this stage.
I tried a few, thought they were good, QPR was kind of neutral. It didn’t send me out (over)loading the cellar with a bunch of bottles – and believe me, it’s not that hard to get me to do that.
I would be open to exploring more of them, though I probably wouldn’t stretch too far on price to do so.
although everyone is talking about chenin, the rose is without a doubt a rather uninspiring effort. in my experience, the best winemakers manage to coax something special out of all their wines no matter the level or price point.
Hard to disagree. Not a huge deal but maybe one of the four vintages I’ve purchased has been interesting.