Patrick Baudouin, 2024 Update
The Layon has nearly finished its journey once it passes the settlements of Chaudefonds-sur-Layon and Ardenay, as only a few kilometres downstream the river joins its much grander sibling, the Loire, at Chalonnes-sur-Loire. The river meanders in an exaggerated fashion here, often sweeping from side to side more than it moves forward. The Layon’s defining features, including the Pont-Barré (pictured below), the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Guerre de Vendée, and the slopes of Chaume and Quarts de Chaume, are all behind it now. Here the landscape is increasingly open and broad, allowing the river to twist and turn as it pleases.
Sitting close to the water, on the right bank, on the final great bend just downstream of Chaudefonds-sur-Layon, is the domaine of Patrick Baudouin. There are one or two other domaines situated further downstream, but none have Patrick’s standing, and so this is something of a last hurrah for the river before it eventually yields to the Loire. From this base Patrick tends about 13 hectares of vines, a handful of which are close by, on the Princé plateau around Ardenay, the last vestige of the Corniche Angevine. Others, such as Le Cornillard, are close to Chaudefonds-sur-Layon, while the most renowned terroirs – Les Bruandières and Les Zersilles, lie upstream.
From this portfolio of vines Patrick Baudouin fashions – or as he once put it, gives birth to – a complex array of wines, sometimes cuvées parcellaires reflecting the fruit of just one parcel, sometimes blends, sometimes demi-sec or moelleux, although increasingly the style here is stony dry and intensely mineral. It is a quite special set of wines and one that is always worth checking out.
In this report I present my latest tasting notes on Patrick’s wines, as always covering a spread of vintages. In some cases I was tasting a particular vintage for the first time, in other cases returning to vintages I have tasted before. This was more informative than it sounds, as some wines showed better than on previous encounters.
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