Baudry-Dutour, 2018 Update
Christophe Baudry and Jean-Martin Dutour are major players in the Chinon appellation. While the name Baudry-Dutour is perhaps not as well known as Bernard Baudry or Charles Joguet, with more than 80 hectares of vines within the appellation, spread across at least four vineyards, this domaine accounts for a very significant slice of the Chinon vineyard. Indeed, with a domaine this size, Christophe and Jean-Martin are on a similar footing to Arnaud Couly at Couly-Dutheil, who has (last time I checked) around 90 hectares of vines to look after.
Despite the size of the domaine, Baudry-Dutour seems to maintain a rather low-key presence within the appellation. There are several reasons for this; first, the domaine’s shop window is in Cravant-les-Coteaux, and their main winemaking facility is secreted away in a seldom-visited corner of the appellation, while Couly-Dutheil maintains a visible presence within the town with a wisely-situated tasting room just behind the Fortresse Royale. Having no major presence within the town of Chinon itself, countless wine-curious tourists presumably pass through the region without knowingly encountering their wines of gaining any awareness of their activities. Secondly, the Couly-Dutheil brand is very prominent in Chinon, while Christophe Baudry (pictured below) and Jean-Martin Dutour choose to market their wines not under the name of a single domaine, but using a variety of different domaine names, marques and brands. As a consequence, it is possible for a visitor to Chinon to dine out every evening, drinking a different Baudry-Dutour wine with every meal, and to never make any connection between these various bottles.
Over the past few years I have done my best to string together an understanding of the work undertaken by Christophe and Jean-Martin, including their various domaines, as described in my Baudry-Dutour profile. I recently met up with them once again in order to taste the current releases, revisiting some cuvées, and meeting new vintages.
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