Bernard Baudry Chinon Rosé 2009: 100% Cabernet Franc, made with skin contact rather than a saignée. No malolactic fermentation. Not yet bottled - due to be so in March. A lovely hue, more gris than rosé. A delicate nose, floral, light peach fruit with a touch of cream. A vibrant palate, fresh but also forceful, with lots of spicy acidity. Dry with great character. This would be great with salmon. 16/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Blanc 2009: From a clay-limestone terroir, and 5-6 year-old vines. No malolactic fermentation and just 2.5 g/l residual sugar. Clean and precise fruit on the nose, very expressive, with bright notes of yellow plum. The palate has a lovely feel to it, bright like the nose, with green-yellow fruit character and good acids. Overall a rather tense and nervous style, minerally too. Good wine. 16/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2009: The entry-level wine, below the domaine cuvée. The terroir is gravel and sand, the vines 20-years old. Fermented 100% en cuve, no barriques here. A bluish rim, a very young wine, and a bright nose, clean with creamed forest fruits. Served rather cool, and showing a dry, minerally, gravelly character, with very structured fruit. Light and elegant in terms of substance, but there is good tannin here. 15-16+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux 2009: The terroir here is more gravelly-pebbly, although the vines (60-years old) are quite close to those for Les Granges. Has been in oak for the past two months. A darker colour here, still with a bluish rim, a little gloss as well. Clean and fresh, with a little more concentration. A lovely and flattering texture on the palate, nicely balanced and fresh, with a good acid backbone. Vibrant, with a tannic finish. Ripe fruit character. Good potential here. 16.5-17+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Clos Guillot 2009: A clay and limestone terroir again. A beautifully glossy hue here, notes of minerals and stone, over a layer of dark and creamy fruit. Very restrained in style, although very textured and fruit-rich through the middle it is well-framed from the beginning with acid and tannin. A ripe flourish of tannin in the finish shows this is one for the cellar. Excellent potential. 17.5-18.5+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boisée 2009: This is from a pure limestone terroir, tuffeau as it is known locally. A great nose here, rich and dense, with pure ripe fruit. Dark, concentrated, with a slightly sooty edge perhaps reflecting the wine's tannic substance. This is exactly what the palate possesses; dense substance, very rich yet balanced, with a firm tannic core giving the wine a monumental structure. This is a huge wine, a vin de garde, which requires 10-15 years before it will be ready. 18-19+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2008: There is lots of admirable character here, with a lovely Cabernet Franc style on the nose, very typically Chinon, with notes of gravel with the fruit. Less substance than the 2009, a little leaner, but a very attractive, pretty wine which will be drinking well soon. 15.5/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon 2008: The domaine cuvée is an assemblage of fruit, half from flat, gravelly terroirs, half from the higher slopes. This has only been in bottle ten days. A nice, firm style on the nose, ripe, perhaps even a touch confit, with a sweet edge to the typical Cabernet Franc aromas. The palate is very well composed, elegant, with some good flesh to it. Finishes very nicely. Showing remarkably well for a just-bottled wine. 16+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux 2008: This cuvée has also been bottled just ten days ago. A pretty nose, with a warmer style of fruit here, certainly aromatic with a good, defined, stony-minerally element. The palate has a pretty but firm and grippy structure with a rich, mouth-filling style, an impression that reflects the wine's presence rather than texture. In fact it has a rather nervous character, with fine, purely expressed fruit. Really good. 16.5+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon Clos Guillot 2008: Currently still in oak, due to be bottled in March 2010. A great colour here, still with a remarkably youthful-looking blue-tinged hue. The nose is delightful, very open and accessible, with warm but well defined fruit. The palate shows lots of structure and buoyant acids, backing up a layer of open and sweet fruit. The tannins are ripe, giving a good composition to the wine. Lovely stuff, but it deserves 3-5 years of cellar time I think. 17+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boisée 2008: Again still currently in oak, and not due to be bottled until September 2010. The nose is evocative, with a fabulous array of fruits, mostly fresh and red in character but also a touch of peach. Fine creamed-fruit character on the palate, complex and dense but also structured, with plenty of ripe, dark tannins at the core. Great density. This wine needs a lot of time. Excellent. 18+/20

Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boisée 2007: A second sample, the first bottle opened having been corked. A good, direct and elegant style on the nose, with pure and fresh fruit character. It is somewhat gravelly, lighter and aromatic than usual. The palate shows that this just isn't ready yet; a moderate texture with gentle fruit, with a good tannic core. This needs time, perhaps a couple of years. It is exceptionally good for such a difficult vintage. 16.5+/20