Bernard Baudry: Other Vineyards
Beyond these two famed lieux-dits, Bernard and Matthieu Baudry own a number of other vineyards, and where better to begin an exploration of these vines than with those that sit opposite the domaine? These vines, some of which Bernard acquired back in 1975, contribute to the cuvée Les Grézeaux.
The Les Grézeaux vines sit directly opposite the domaine (and are pictured on page two of this profile). There are 3 hectares of vines here, the soils modern alluvial deposits, essentially a coarse gravel composed of flint, quartz and granite. This was one of the ‘original’ Baudry parcels, and was once source of the domaine’s top cuvée, before Bernard Baudry acquired the vines in Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissée, the wines from these parcels taking precedence in this matter. There are plenty of old vines here, the parcel having been first planted in 1945. Thus some vines are more than 70-years old, although across the vineyard the average age is closer to 60 years.
Just to the south of Les Grézeaux is Les Granges, the two separated by the Ruisseau de Saint Mexme, which eventually drains into the Vienne. The land dips down into a marshy morass around this little stream, but it then climbs again onto a sandy summit. Les Granges is a much more expansive parcel when compared with Les Grézeaux. A few years ago it seemed to me that you couldn’t talk to anybody about Bernard Baudry without them mentioning that, when the Loire and its tributaries (including the Vienne) flood, as they do with some regularity each winter, Bernard had been known to continue his pruning, working from a rowing boat. The tale is less-often told these days, but if you should hear it, it is this vineyard that is being described.
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