Baudry-Dutour
The association between Chinon and the name of Baudry is a solid one, this being a very familiar surname to all fans of the wines of this appellation. Not for the first time, however, there is potential for confusion here, as there are in fact several vignerons in the appellation who go by this name. Well, there are at least two, anyway. Just next door to the cellars of Bernard and Matthieu Baudry is another Baudry domaine, one that today has grown into an appellation-wide empire. This is Baudry-Dutour, created when two local vignerons came together as business partners in the early years of the 21st century.
Baudry-Dutour was created in 2003 when Christophe Baudry and Jean-Martin Dutour joined forces, each of them bringing their respective domaines to the fold. Today Baudry and Dutour bring together numerous Chinon vineyards, making Christophe and Jean-Martin the leading candidates for largest landowners in the appellation. The only likely rival would be Arnaud Couly of Couly-Dutheil, but I think Baudry and Dutour have the lead, by some margin. Today they have also extended their holdings beyond these local boundaries, having added vineyards in Bourgueil and Touraine Chenonceaux to their portfolio. The range of wines produced is, therefore, expansive.
To pick this complex viticultural matrix apart I will begin by looking at the two proponents and their respective domaines in turn, and I begin here with Jean-Martin Dutour and Domaine du Roncée.
Jean-Martin Dutour & Domaine du Roncée
Despite his current standing in the appellation and in the Loire Valley as a whole, Jean-Martin Dutour (pictured below) is a relative newcomer to the region. He originated not from Chinon or indeed anywhere along the course of the Loire; having been born in Bar-le-Duc, a small settlement midway between Epernay and Toul, the first vines the young Jean-Martin set eyes on were likely to have been the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of the Champagne vineyard.
This must have been enough to set the fire within Jean-Martin though, as he left home to study agronomy and oenology at Montpellier. So how did he come to be running Domaine du Roncée? To answer that question we should take a look at this estate’s history.
