2023 Bernard Baudry "Les Grézeaux" Chinon
91
Vinous
Review Date: 08/2025The youthful 2023 Les Grézeaux offers fresh and pure fruit with bright, salivating acidity. This was sourced from vines growing on the gravel sands just in front of the winery. Winemaker Mathieu Baudry concedes that it's the most difficult of his sites for which to nail the picking date, with a perfect window of just two to three days. There's a definite flesh to the mid-palate, though it doesn't even reach medium body. This aged in cement tanks rather than oak and offers youthful blackberry and raspberry fruit notes. There's a hint of savory smokiness that could be from the gravel or a slight touch of reduction. The 2023 can be enjoyed in the first six to nine years of its life. (RG)
Product Availability
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: #2043618