Some producers rarely need introductions, and this is one of them. Bernard Baudry has been producing the highest quality Chinon on the market vintage to vintage for many years now. The wines are wonderfully textured, complex, and a true homage to the varietal character of cabernet franc and the terroir of Chinon. At Vinopolis we regularly have each new vintage release on offer when we receive it, and the wines sell extremely fast to a dedicated set of fans.
Recently we were able to acquire a series of back-vintage Baudry bottlings of the esteemed Croix Boisée bottling. This wine is produced from Baudry’s “Grand Cru” vineyards, two hectares exposed in the perfect middle of a south facing slope on clay and limestone. This is Chinon of serious pedigree that has the legs to go many years in your cellar and evolve continuously into something more and more beautiful. Fortunately though, with this vertical line-up of the wine on offer, you can taste expressions of Croix Boisée that are at various levels of maturity and show the full spectrum of its flavor. Expect delicious aromas of blackberry, savory herbs, cassis, and that characteristic franc spice.
From this highly calcareous soil, la Croix Boissée acquires a firm body with marked and “chalky” tannins. It is complex, fat, with aromas of very ripe fruit, and needs a few years of aging in bottles (2 to 20 years) – Bernard Baudry
I will emphasize that this line-up is very limited and you are unlikely to see the like of it again any time soon. Don’t miss out!
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2011 750ml $54.50 special, 8 bottles available
Wine Advocate 93 points “Baudry’s 2011 Chinon La Croix Boissée is a vey spicy, currently slightly reluctant Cabernet Franc from 30-year-old vines on clay and limestone soils that presents itself more on the fresh and greenish site. Aged for 18 months in barrels, the flavors are rather earthy than fruity, reminding me of powdered rocks, a freshly sharpened pencil and green beans, whereas the aromatic fruit flavors are as discreet as delicate. On the palate this neither fined nor filtered red is a pure, mineral-structured, slightly Pinot-like wine of great finesse, freshness and elegance, quite young and still tart, but powerful and intense, with a beautifully astringent (refreshing!) yet long finish. This is the purest and most firmly structured – and obviously most potential – Chinon I tasted for this report. It calls for patience – which is not too bad for a great wine.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2014 750ml $54.50 special, 8 bottles available
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2016 750ml $54.50 special, 9 bottles available
Vinous 93 points “Grown on very chalky soils, and aged 24 months in 1- to 3-year-old barrels. Vivid ruby. Expressive, even flamboyant, nose of ripe cherry and berry, kirsch and cassis, and even a touch of chocolate. Open and rather hedonistic for Cabernet Franc, with lots of red and black fruit, and it wows the palate with freshness and swirling acidity. But it’s balanced by dancing notes of chalk, talc and graphite, and great finesse on the finish.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2017 750ml $54.50 special, 12 bottles available
Vinous 95 points “La Croix Boissée is a vineyard that slopes up from the valley floor to the Chinon plateau close to Baudry’s domaine. The result in the 2017 Chinon is a mid-weight, elegant style offering dried herbs and smoked bacon – it’s a hint reduction that needs air. The finish is much more powerful than anticipated; there’s no shortage of tannins here, but they have the finest of powdery textures, making you lick the inside of your mouth (that’s the limestone of Croix Boissée that you see year after year). The lengthy finish is infused with spices – expect a hint of herbs, tea leaf and smoke.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2018 750ml $54.50 special, 12 bottles available
Vinous 96 points “The ripeness of the 2018 vintage gives an almost Syrah/Viognier character to the Chinon La Croix Boissée, which offers sweet black fruit and a creamy apricot note. Sumptuous yet never ever opulent, it’s almost as if the wine’s just done a yoga class. Plentiful tannins give the inside of your cheeks a chalky rub, while there’s surprising freshness considering the ripeness, leading to a lengthy finish. This is a baby that will turn out to be a great adult.”
Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2018 Chinon La Croix Boissée displays a deep, intense and elegant bouquet of dark fruits intertwined with black tea aromas. Silky, crystalline and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, fresh and refined Chinon that is slightly leathery toward the finish, which is long, intense and vivacious and has lingering salinity. The tannins are fine, elegant and well integrated yet still palatable. The 2018 might have some volatile acidity, but this makes it a true classic of the appellation and an authentic Baudry. Great aging capacity. Tasted in June 2021.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee 2019 750ml $54.50 special, 6 bottles available
Chris Kissack (Winedoctor) 96-98 points “A cuvée that needs little introduction, from a famed terroir of limestone slopes which rise up above the valley floor. The fermentation was particularly slow says Matthieu, so this went into barrel late, and it was still carrying 2.5 g/l residual sugar. As a consequence there was a little refermentation during the summer months of 2020. By the time of my tasting there was still a little carbon dioxide gas in the wine, signifying that. The colour is a gorgeous black violet hue, and the nose is filled with aromatic black and curranty fruits, with hints of liquorice and rose garden. Trying to look past the residual gas on the palate (easier said than done) this feels fresh and vigorous, with a silky composition, and notes of liquorice, toast, currant and white chalk. A brilliant wine. The alcohol is about 14%, says Matthieu. (Oct 2020)”
Interested in other Baudry wines? Several gems below.
Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissee Blanc 2019 750ml $44 special, 5 bottles available
Winery note “The very chalky soil imparts La Croix Boissée with minerality and a dense body. This is a nice wine for gastronomy with notes of white fruits and a fine salinity. Quantity is limited.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon Domaine 2019 750ml $21.90 special, 36 bottles available
Vinous 90 points “The 2019 Chinon Le Domaine provides excellent concentration of fruit while remaining light on its feet. As well as bright primary fruit, it offers smoky bacon, spice and medicinal characters. There’s lovely sappy texture on the finish, which Baudry puts down to the limestone soils of the Chinon plateau that typically grip the side of the mouth. You can enjoy this in its youth, but it has an additional element of seriousness that means its future will stretch out to the medium term.”
Bernard Baudry Chinon Clos Guillot 2020 750ml $33 special,26 bottles available
Vinous 93 points “Hailing from the limestone-clay slopes on the outskirts of Chinon town, home to other famous vineyards like Clos de l’Olive and Chêne Vert, Le Clos Guillot 2020 offers a cloud of Cabernet Franc fruit with fine refreshing acidity. Savory, silken and seductive, the wine is flooded with a stream of acidity. It is a calm wine with a mass of chalky tannins that coat the palate reassuringly. The finish is long, quiet and scented with dark raspberries and spice. There is a minor complaint of a touch of dryness at the very end of this wine.”
All Bernard Baudry Wines Available
| BERNARD BAUDRY WINES | VWS PRICE | AVAILABLE | LINK |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE BLANC 2019 | 44.00 | 5 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2011 | 54.50 | 8 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2014 | 54.50 | 8 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2016 | 54.50 | 9 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2017 | 54.50 | 12 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2018 | 54.50 | 12 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON BOISSEE ROUGE 2019 | 54.50 | 6 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON DOMAINE 2019 | 21.90 | 36 | Link |
| BAUDRY CHINON GUILLOT 2020 750ML | 33.00 | 26 | Link |