Bernard Baudry: Tasting & Drinking
There is so much I could say about the wines of Bernard and Matthieu Baudry, although I fear that my words would be predictable, and that I might go on too long (as if I haven’t already done that). Bernard forged a domaine from nothing, and has proven himself to be one of the most preeminent names of the appellation. Indeed, when looking for my top wine of the vintage, Bernard was always in the running, along with Philippe Alliet of course. Other domaines such as Couly-Dutheil make super wines from hallowed terroirs, and of course Charles Joguet must also be considered in the running with the wines of the Clos de la Dioterie and Chêne Vert, but Alliet and Baudry seem to make great wines regardless of the origins of the fruit, be it limestone, clay, gravel or sand.
Today the domaine has transitioned from Bernard to Matthieu, and I find the wines no less convincing. Yes I do find, as some others have done on occasion, some Brettanomyces in the wines, but thankfully not as a regular feature. Thus there is some inconsistency here, but fortunately I seem to have been lucky with the vast majority of wines from my own cellar. Indeed, I have had more trouble with cork taint (a statistic weighted heavily by the 2006 Le Clos Guillot, which from my cellar has a 50% rate of taint) than with Brettanomyces, although some recent encounters might turn that conclusion on its head.
The wines made here run the gamut of styles, from very traditional lighter Chinon, to mid-range wines of substance and joy, to imposing limestone cuvées which need decades to show what they are capable of. In other words there is something for everyone. My own preference is for cellaring wine, to explore the complexities that come with age, and so I am a regular buyer of Le Clos Guillot and certainly La Croix Boissée. My advice to you is that you do the same. If you have even just a hint of interest in Chinon, or Cabernet Franc, or just in truly great (and under-appreciated) red wine, you won’t regret it. And don’t forget the white wines, they are also very worthwhile.
I present all my tasting notes over this page and the next two, with the most recent vintages back to 2021 below, then the vintages from 2020 back to 2011, then older wines, from 2010 back to the 20th century.
I have arranged my notes, within each vintage, as follows; first I look at the white wines, followed by the rosé and red wines. The reds are ordered as follows; Les Granges, Le Domaine (generally referred to simply by the appellation, as that is what is printed on the label, with Le Domaine only appearing on the label in more recent vintages), Les Grézeaux, Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissée. Some wines have multiple tasting notes; the most recent are always listed first. (6/12/05, updated 19/2/09, 21/12/16, 31/12/17, 11/3/26)
