Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Le Domaine hails from Baudry’s high-sited vines on the plateau above Chinon’s première côte. The lion’s share of the fruit comes from vines with an average age of around 35 years, planted on the local sandy, limestone-rich soils (known as millarges), while between 20 and 30% is drawn from slightly younger vines on gravelly soils. Harvested by hand, this wine was fermented naturally in traditional cement vats. Aging occurred in both concrete and old casks for 13 months and the wine was bottled unfiltered, two springs after harvest.

This is a considerably longer aging than in the past and is really making a difference. Baudry believes this drawn-out élevage brings more relaxed tannin and mineral limestone character to his wine, making it more immediately seductive and approachable.

About Bernard Baudry

Baudry makes some of Chinon’s finest wines: 100% Cabernet Franc from a range of superb, organically tended terroirs.

These wines are the perfect antidote to the oceans of homogenised wines that exist in the world today. They are the product of dedicated farming and humble winemaking, which seeks to faithfully express a unique sense of place.

Mattheiu Baudry, the winery’s second generation, believes that the quality of a wine is closely linked to the work taking place in the vineyard. Blessed by a great diversity of soils across their vineyard, Matthieu applies what he describes as ‘piecemeal winemaking’; that is to say that he harvests and vinifies grapes from each plot separately. This is complemented by minimal intervention winemaking – manual harvest, gravity transfers, natural fermentation, gentle elevage – in order to respect the origins and characteristics of each terroir

“While they are sometimes labelled traditionalists, I find them to be more naturalists. Everything here is organic, harvested by hand and bottled without fining or filtration. In any case, theirs is a style that I admire: they make cabernet franc taste as suave and succulent as pinot noir.” Joel B. Payne, Vinous

“Bernard Baudry is, here and now, one of the leading domaines of the appellation. Some would say the leading domaine of the appellation. The wines are of exceptionally high quality…” Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor

About Cabernet Franc

In Australia Cabernet Franc is often referred to as a weed making green insipid wines. As always there are exceptions. Cabernet Franc from the Chinon is another beast altogether. More a beauty really. The wines can have incredible delicacy, perfume, and thirst-quenching character. Silky textures and layered complexity come from the best wines. They often have a slight pencil shaving character that sits wonderfully in the wines. For anyone who may not be aware of Cabernet Franc‘s wily charms or who believes that this grape incapable of producing fabulous wines, Chinon is the place to look!

In the Vineyard

The Domain has 32 hectares of vineyards spread across the AOC Chinon, in Cravant les Coteaux and Chinon. The grape is grown primarily Cabernet Franc (90%) plus a small production of Chenin Blanc (about 10%). The vineyards are located on very varied terroirs of gravel in the plain, limestone clay on coteau and sandy limestones plateaus. This diversity offers us the possibility of applying piecemeal winemaking.

The vineyard has always been maintained according to environmentally friendly methods (no chemical weed killers) guided by observation and common sense depending on the climatic conditions of the year.

The entire vineyard is now conducted in organic farming since 2006.
A compost that we maintain ourselves based on cow manure and straw helps rebalance the organic matter in our soils. Phytosanitary interventions are mainly limited to the use of copper, sulfur and natural plants such as horsetail and nettles.

They control the growth of the vine by partial disbudding but we are looking at what is the vine find itself its own production of balance according to the richness of the soil and climate of the year.

The 2019 Vintage at Bernard Baudry

Vintage report from Bernard Baudry

“So savory”

A mild, dry winter gave the vines an early start. Unfortunately, Spring frost hit the vineyardstwice in early April. Harvest loss wasn’t as severe as in 2016 and 2017, but production dropped by 20%.

Cool temperatures in May and heavy rainfall in early June affected blooming. Fruit set was once again hampered by the extreme weather conditions.

The second half of June, as well as July and August, were extremely hot and dry, with temperatures often over 40 °C.  Hydric stress increased  during the two Summer months and seriously affected the younger vines as well as the vineyards planted on alluvial deposits

Fortunately, the vines benefited from some long-expected rainfall around the end of September. The grape-harvest started on September 30 and lasted until October 8 under light rainfall that did not affect the harvest or the quality of the grapes.

The Chenins Blancs did well and withstood the freak weather conditions; their concentration and balance are superb.

The reds, though not quite as spicy as the 2018s, are generous and redolent of red fruit and violets. The savory character of the 2019 reds seduced us from the onset. The tannins are well-integrated, and the wines are remarkably balanced.

Even though the 2019 vintage may not be as superbly rich and structured as 2018, it still offers some lovely, elegant, and very juicy wines.  

Where in the world is Bernard Baudry?

The Loire Valley is scattered over 175,000 acres stretching from the Atlantic Ocean across to central France. Cover such a large region it is natural that it’s been broken down into sub-regions that specialise in the growing of specific varieties. Baudry is in the middle-Loire in the village of Chinon.

The Loire Valley Wine Group produced a quirky little primer for the regions, varieties and styles produced across the Loire Valley.