2022 Bernard Baudry "Les Grézeaux" Chinon
94
John Gilman
Review Date: 05/2024The 2022 vintage of les Grézeaux from the Baudry family is a great bottle in the making. This is nicely measured in ripeness for such a warm summer, coming in at an even thirteen percent, but no doubt, the fifty-plus year-old vines here navigate extremes during the summer far better than younger vines. The wine’s bouquet is deep, complex and very refined, wafting from the glass in a mix of sweet cassis, black cherries, cigar wrapper, gravelly soil tones, tree bark, espresso and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, elegant in profile and very complex, with a superb core of black fruit, excellent soil signature and grip, ripe, buried tannins and outstanding length on the perfectly balanced finish. All this outstanding bottle of Chinon needs is time in the cellar to properly soften up its backend tannins. 94+
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K&L Buyer
Review Date: 10/2024
Review Date: 09/2024
Notes
Bernard worked as an advisor to the Tours laboratory and studied in Beaune before returning to the Loire and starting his own project on just two hectares in 1975. Now holding 32 hectares throughout Chinon (about 90% of which are planted with Cabernet Franc, with the rest being Chenin), he produces some truly great wines. Les Grézeaux is grown just north of his Les Granges, separated by a river and near the bottom of the slope in Sonnay, on gravel and clay soil. It’s the oldest plot on the estate, with the vines being around 60 years old. The nose is wonderful, with notes of violet, raspberry, blackberry, and a rich cured meat quality that helps broaden it. The palate is remarkably vibrant, full of bright blackberry, raspberry, and aging violet, with a touch of pepper. The finish is spiced with notes of fennel and punctuated by an even more pronounced floral note that makes this wine long and luscious.
Product Details
Origin: Loire, France
Type/Varietal: Cabernet Franc
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
SKU: #1782193