TN: Bernard Baudry 2008 Chinon La Croix Boissée

We paired the Bernard Baudry 2008 Chinon La Croix Boissée with stuffed pork chops made with a filling of bread, pecans, cranberry and rosemary, glazed with rosemary, and finished with balsamic. It was a spectacular pairing! As for the wine, it is very primary in dark fruit and I think the oak is not yet integrated, but there is very serious substance and Chinon typicity. All the pieces are present: mid-palate, minerality, savory flavors, balanced acid, ripe tannin. The pairing was great as the balance of savory (rosemary & pork) and tart (cranberry) to sweet (balsamic) was in parallel between the Croix Boissée and food.

The usual correlation between soil and my enjoyment played out here as well. The fruit for this particular wine is grown on tuffeau, a calcareous soil. Whatever the specific cause, the acidity is better balanced and there is more depth than one finds in a typical Chinon (or Bourgueil). Although these higher end cuvées often cost closer to $30, for me it is worth it to splurge on occasion as these have more body and superior aging upside than the sub-$20 Loire Francs.

• 2008 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  
  
  A major improvement over the Grezeaux per my taste, albeit still primary with unintegrated oak and dark fruits. Loads of potential. Medium body, medium acidity with a rounded mid-palate. A complete wine with beginning middle and end finishing savory with iron and 'mineral' flavor. Very pure black currant, similar to fruit-driven Chilean Bdx varietals in purity, albeit not bomby. Secondary flavors of red fruits, mint, pencil shavings, cedar and tobacco. Superb balance, though the tannins and oak do need to resolve as they are somewhat awkward now.
  
  
  
  Decanted 45 minutes after initial taste, then consumed over about ~3 hours. Expressed more Chinon typicity as it opened. This should be very interesting to follow over many years.
  
  

TN: Bernard Baudry 2008 Chinon Les Grézeaux

Given how much I loved the 2007 version of this cuvee, this was a letdown. Definitely this is an ambitious wine with more depth, especially aromatically, than a rank and file Chinon. But right now the acidity is really out of whack to the point of eclipsing the rest of the palate. Will it come around? That's a question for more experienced tasters. I did find it odd how high the acidity was despite the minimal herbaceousness--usually these qualities scale together.

I must admit, though, that the 2007 Grezeaux was a personal outlier in some sense. I have not generally liked gravel-based Cab Franc from the Loire, so perhaps that was the exception, not the rule.

• 2008 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  
  
  Great typical nose--leather, musk, underbrush and a hint of tobacco. Unfortunately, the acidity is sharp and unyielding. Light body. This is all pomegranite and grapefruit, with a bit of pith on the finish. Very angular though not overly tannic. Minimal oak influence, no heat. The herbaceousness that Chinon can have is definitely well in check, but the acidity is a few notches too high for my comfort. Much preferred the 2007 which was a fruit bomb in comparison (at least in Chinon context).
  
  

WN: Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert

There are some wines that simply are gripping for one reason or another. The Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert was one such wine for me. It's everything I love about Chinon that can be summed up in two words: rustic elegance. As paradoxical as this sounds, I have no other way to sum up wines such as these. They are unassuming in weight and often funky, yet have a special harmony and complexity.

All the pieces are here: a great vineyard, a great vintage, and a top producer. The Clos du Chêne Vert (roughly translating to the Enclosed Vineyard of the Green Oak) is on the north bank of the Vienne River and has clay and silico-calcareous soil. There is a lot of characterful, yet simple wine made from sand and gravel soils in the Loire. But it's these sloped vineyards with clay and limestone that produce special wines that marry the regional and varietal character to depth and structure.

Interestingly, while this wine did show some of the characteristic "farmyard" stink--think horses and cow pastures--of the yeast Brettanomyces, in a certain way this enhanced the wine. I do not know the reason behind it, but this funk seems to be a regional expression. Brett can and does ruin many wines with what I'd describe as band-aid and antiseptic flavor that tastes identical regardless of varietal or region. Yet here it is different, and I'd argue it's an expression of terroir in some sense. While it is not the earth or countryside that is locked in the wine, some combination of the indigenous yeast strain(s) and chemistry of the Chinon fruit yields a typical funk to the finished wine.

• 2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  
  
  Epic Chinon. It's not really a powerful wine, but needed a good hour in the decanter to open up. At first has barnyard, menthol and cassis aromas. (OK, there's some Brett here, but it is more fertilizer/soil than the band-aid/medicinal Brett typical in CA--seems to be a Brett strain or expression specific to the Loire.) Medium bodied with medium high acidity on the palate. Chalky tannins. A mix of blackcurrant, tobacco pomegranate and chalky mineral flavors. All of these just linger on the finish, and there's no heat or weird off flavors. Tobacco and minerality were more pronounced over time. This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but this is amazingly concentrated Chinon Cab Franc that is a straight beam of awesome in my book. Nowhere near mature, either, though it oozes class right now.
  
  

WN: Domaine de Pallus 2006 Chinon Les Pensées de Pallus

Usually I'm a big fan of Chinons, but the Domaine de Pallus 2006 Chinon Les Pensées de Pallus fell victim to my high expectations. It's actually a pretty good wine all things considered--varietally correct and balanced. It isn't spoofy or overly slick, either. It's just missing some kind of lift. Supposedly this is a more "modern" producer. I guess I should stick with the old school ones.

While I often think the whole "natural wine" concept is overwrought and turned into a sort of quasi-religion, I do think the minimal intervention approach works really well in the Loire. The fruit just seems more conducive to letting nature take its course. My gut feeling is that the high acid, low sugar grapes from the Loire just tend to go more in an interesting, but not undrinkable direction than is the case with low acid, high sugar grapes from, say, California when allowed to ferment spontaneously. What the wines may not have in richness, they have in complexity as a result. I've definitely had a few Chinons that drink like a meal as they have fruit, veggies, acidity and savory flavors.

This wine seems like it's been made very cleanly just to emphasize fruit. That's fine, but for around $20 I kind of expect things to starting getting weird and wooly, especially from a wine billed as the producer's top cuvée.

• 2006 Domaine de Pallus Chinon Les Pensées de Pallus - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  The tobacco screams Chinon Cab Franc. But this was a bit disappointing. Mostly black cherry (no pomegranite or cranberry). Iron and mint flavors as well. Medium body, medium acid. Very middle of the road without the edginess I'd expect--mild acidity, no funkiness. Clean, well made, but either better younger or will bloom in time. Right now kind of boring.
  

TN: Charles Joguet 2008 Chinon Cuvée Terroir

It's been a while since I've had a Chinon largely because I didn't buy many 2007s for near term drinking due to general disappointment with the vintage. Meanwhile, I'm aging my older vintages. However, I've been drinking a lot of California wines lately, and it was time to change it up. The choice was on old favorite, Charles Joguet 2008 Chinon Cuvée Terroir, from a vintage I've yet to try.

For $20, this was everything I could want in an entry level Chinon, though less prominent producers might offer a slightly better value for this style. Joguet's website indicates this bottling has fruit from presumably sandy, alluvial soils and includes some press wine to provide tannic structure. There's nice fresh fruit, tobacco and plenty of acidity with fuzzy tannins. It's a light wine, very linear in flavor, and definitely is at its best with food. For me, that was a 'house special' pizza with everything but the kitchen sink on it. All in all, a solid, typical wine for Chinon that delivers for the price.

This isn't a profound or complex wine; it'll probably be at its best young. But it does what it does it does well. It's probably best to view a wine like this more like a white or rosé than a full bodied red for drinking purposes. Definitely not a cocktail, though the freshness and lack of heat make this very drinkable.

• 2008 Charles Joguet Chinon Cuvée Terroir - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Cigarettes and cherry juice on the nose--nice typicity. Acidic on the palate with very linear flavors. Not round, light body. Punchy fruit with tobacco and minerality. Decent finish, no heat, fuzzy but not oppressive tannins. Very good wine, but not a ton of depth or layering and a bit tight on the nose. Still, spot on as an entry level Chinon and a pizza wine. Honest wine with a real sense of place and varietal expression.
  

TN: Couly-Dutheil 2009 Chinon René Couly Rosé

On my monthly trip to Costco much to my surprise I found the Couly-Dutheil 2009 Chinon René Couly Rosé in their wine section. A Cabernet Franc rosé from Chinon at Costco? Go figure, though I shouldn't be too surprised as they also carry a Chenin Blanc from this same producer. What was really surprising was how fruity and almost candied the wine was. I was expecting something a bit more austere, I suppose. It was certainly dry, though, and showed more varietal character with air. A fun wine and a nice deal for $13.

• 2009 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Domaine René Couly - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  Lots of strawberry bubble gum at first. With air showed some of the minty and savory edge I'd expect from Cab Franc. Very fruit forward and full bodied rose. Good acidity, yet still seemed a bit unstructured. Has a little herby quality to the finish. Seems simplistic and fruity now, but I'd bet in 6-12 months this will show more of its typicity. Right now this is a summer quaffer.

WN: Havens 2006 Napa Valley Bourriquot & Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied

I was debating whether to post the Havens 2006 Napa Valley Bourriquot and the Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied as separate entries. But since I tasted them together and they represent such a tour de force of Cab Franc regional and varietal character, it's pretty clear they need to be posted together. Both are excellent wines with superb typicity, albeit rather different. Most interestingly, they cover the full Cab Franc tobacco spectrum.

The now defunct Havens winery has been a popular topic on my blog, and in fact I've tried two prior vintages of the Bourriquot, a blend of 2/3 Cab Franc and 1/3 Merlot. The 2005 was simply one of the best California wines I've tasted, though the 2004 wasn't too shabby, either. The 2006 Bourriquot, while not as complex and refined as the 2005, presented a very compelling profile in its own right. It was brimming with fresh tobacco aromas and flavors. Not exactly what most folks want in California wine, but I love it. One might be tempted to say this is Old World, but really it isn't. There's still a richness and forwardness to the fruit that's very Californian. While California often gets derided for its lack of terroir, this is one wine that has a certain sense of place and a stylistic sense of purpose. I also appreciated the sort of integrated, sneaky structure in this bottling. It doesn't hit you in the face with tannins, yet there's a definite backbone seamlessly built into the wine.

The Joguet offered an interesting contrast. While 2006 was a relatively cool year in California, the 2005 vintage in the Loire Valley was one of the warmest and ripest in its history. And yet the Chinon had much cooler edge to it. What really struck me was the juxtaposition of cigarettes and roses. Just a crazy pairing of aromas. A lot of the tasting notes in CellarTracker mention more fruit, which leads me to believe this bottle had shed a good bit of its primary fruit in the bouquet. And yet despite the green edge on the nose, this wine was far less earthy in flavor than the Bourriquot. This wine was entirely an exercise is concentrated sour fruits and stony minerality. Go figure! The finish was long and there's a ton of depth of flavor--I'll be checking in on my other bottle in a few years if not more to see how it develops.

One important side note concerns the cuvee and terroir of the Joguet. Franc de Pied means the vines are own-rooted, which is rarely the case because the vine louse Phylloxera simply destroys European rootstock. Usually the vines are grafted to Phylloxera resistant American rootstock. Unfortunately, the inevitable is occurring with Joguet's Franc de Pied vines: they are dying due to Phylloxera. As to the effect of the own-rooted vines, who's to say? I do have the regular bottling of this cuvee from 2005, so perhaps I'll have to compare the own-rooted to the grafted vine wine in a few years. On the Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied, the Joguet website says:

This one-hectare plot of non-grafted vines was planted in 1982, in conjunction with INRA. Half of the plot was replanted in 1992 and 1995.

Produced from the same terroir as Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Les Varennes Franc de Pied is vinified separately in vintages that seem to best distinguish their typicity.

This experiment should produce all the typicity of "pre-grafted" Cabernet Franc, but there is a risk, however, of phylloxera resurfacing.
We limit the yield of this plot to 30 hl/ha (or 1,210 litres per acre).

For the regular Varennes du Grand Clos, they write:

At the foot of the gravelly terrace formed, in part, by the erosion of the limestone slope, this very particular silico-clay and silico-calcareous terroir lies on the left bank of the Vienne, in Sazilly.

These 4.5 ha (10.8 acres) of vines planted between 1962 and 1976 have an average yield of 40 hl/ha (or 1,620 litres per acre).

I guess I'll just have to try the wines side by side to see what difference the rootstock actually makes. One interesting point is that the own-rooted vines are young, relatively speaking. Conventional wisdom says old vines produce the most profound wines. But maybe the rootstock offsets the age difference in some manner. Ah, the questions that can never be fully answered.

• 2006 Havens Wine Cellars Bourriquot - USA, California, Napa Valley
  
  Tobacco (of the fresh cut variety), tar, violets, currant and cherry on the nose. Tart cherry followed by a tobacco heavy, earthy finish. Full bodied, definitely showing CA fruit. But ripeness is held in check so earth and acid are still there. Tannins are soft, integrated. There is a little heat there, though. Nice job of making a non-CA style with CA fruit. Oak is nicely integrated. Not quite as deep as the '05, though.
  
  

• 2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Franc de Pied Les Varennes du Grand Clos - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  Tobacco--like smashed up cigarettes--and roses on the nose. At this stage this one is for hard core Cab Franc fans. Very little funk/Brett here if at all. Very fresh on the palate. Under-ripe plum and currants. High acid, concentrated, tannic. Mineral and crisp fruit laden finish that carries on for quite a while. More mineral than earthy in flavor. Hold for a at least 3-5 years to see where this is going.
  
  

TN: Chinon Blanc that's Chenin Blanc

Say it five times fast: Chinon Blanc is Chenin Blanc. They grow mostly Cab Franc in Chinon, but it turns out that the folks at Couly-Dutheil can make a pretty mean Chenin Blanc, too.

2008 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Les Chanteaux - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Excellent! Lychee, apple and a touch of honey on the nose. Lychee is a bit obscure, but it smells just like those dried lychees I sometimes find at Trader Joe's. Good body, but also zingy and fresh. Seriously long finish, first driven by white stone fruit, then developing minerality. Rubber cork, so drink now. It's too good to wait on anyway.

Jeff at Viva La Wino has also tasted this wine. And of course see The Wine Doctor for detailed notes on this producer.

TN: A Chinon, a Bourgueil, and a St.-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

Here are three recent Loire Cab Francs. If you're interested, The Wine Doctor is the go to source on Alliet and Mabileau. I preferred the Alliet Chinon of the three below, but my girlfriend found it to be too barnyardy. I've yet to find a barnyard I didn't like, and for whatever reason it works well in Loire reds. They don't seem to get the off flavors and truly rancid aromas that Brett-infected wines from the New World develop. Just like a washed rind cheese, they are stinky yet still taste delicious. Not that the Mabileaus had no funk, but their structure lagged significantly behind the Alliet.

2006 Philippe Alliet Chinon - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Oh yeah, this is the stuff, so true to its Chinon origin. The bouquet is definitely horsey with a sweet horse sweat quality that's fairly dominant. There are some herbal notes notes, but this is all about the farmyard perfume. On the palate it's medium bodied with excellent structure. Drying but not overwhelming tannins. Juicy acidity. One that draws you back to sip a bit more. It's a food wine, but also a meal in itself as it has savory meaty flavors and a full serving of fruits and veggies. Very minimal oak here, seems quite traditional. Nice finish with some minerality, but really carries on the savory and earthy flavors.

2007 Frederic Mabileau Bourgueil Racines - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil
This followed the '06 Alliet Chinon and probably suffered from the comparison. Grassy (typical of '07, especially sand/gravel terroirs), animal funk, berries and cream on the nose. Soft and creamy on the palate with spicy green notes and citric flavors. Easy to drink and while not flabby, had less structure than I'd hoped. This is good, just not as edgy as I like my Loire Franc.

2006 Frederic Mabileau Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Les Rouillères - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Bouquet of black cherry, roses, herbal/grassy/tobacco. The herbaceous note seems typical of gravel/sand based Franc. Nice balance on the palate. Medium acid, cherry flavor. Shows earth and olive as well. Mild drying tannin on finish with some medicinal flavor and herbaceous spice. Not much length. Good, right for the price, but not super vibrant or deep. Probably better sooner than later.

TN: Bernard Baudry 2007 Chinon Les Grezeaux

I haven't had the best experiences with 2007 Loire reds. Uneven is probably the best that I can say for the several I've tasted. The Bernard Baudry 2007 Chinon Les Grezeaux has added a massive peak to the several valleys I've encountered in this vintage, however. Les Grezeaux is made from 60 year old vines grown on gravel with clay subsoil, according to The Wine Doctor's profile of Bernard Baudry. I generally haven't liked wines from gravel soil as much as those from clay or limestone, but perhaps the combination of gravel and clay is what makes this cuvée unique. If you look up 'transparent' in a hypothetical wine dictionary, you'll see this wine. It's pure, elegant, and, yes, transparent.

Here are my notes:

Extremely ripe in the context of 2007s. Nose is cassis laden with just a hint of the herbaceousness one might anticipate. A bit rosy, too, and there's an intriguing metallic/earty aroma at times (pencil lead/china clay/kaolin????). Balanced and lively on the palate. Very light oaking, maybe just enough to round out the wine. Fairly high acidity, but with sufficient weight and fruit. Tastes like smashed rocks. Minerality and fruit linger on the great finish with some young tannins. Just a pleasure to drink, elegant.

Another user of CellarTracker, JamesSanders, phrases it better and more succinctly:

A fruit bomb for those of us who prefer tart and savory flavors. Just bursting with tart raspberry fruits, with some savory notes of olives and green tobacco. Long finish that calls you back. Not many young reds with a better fruit/acid balance than this. I always hate getting to the end of the bottle because it just gets better and better.

Basically, this wine is perfect in the sense that it is extremely well-made, and indicative of its place and vintage. I've read this cuvée will age forever. While that may be true, it would be hard to keep my hands off of it. It's just that good. Young wine simply doesn't get much better than this. Jeff at Viva la Wino agrees, this wine rocks.

Pros: Elegant, Lighter Body, Aromatic, Minerality, Fresh, Earthy
Cons: None
Decant: Yes, opens up with air
Price: $21 from K&L Wines
QPR: Excellent (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

TN: Charles Joguet 2006 Les Varennes du Grand Clos

We tasted the Charles Joguet 2006 Les Varennes du Grand Clos at the weekly event at a local wine shop, and the first thing my girlfriend wrote down in our notes was, "what wine should taste like." It couldn't have been said any better. This is a Chinon that captures the Cabernet Franc varietal in its essence, managing to both be elegant and rustic simultaneously, beautiful yet masculine.

The bouquet, yes, it's all there. Ripe red and black berries, but not jam are evident. At 13.5% ABV this is a very ripe wine by Chinon standards, yet right in that sweet spot judged against the rest of the world. Everything else is in its place: tobacco, rose petals, animale funk, black pepper and just a hint of bell pepper. Textbook. The medium bodied wine delivers a seamless palate with ideal acidity so it's fresh but not overly tart. The finish is pleasing, lingering, though the tannins are still quite gripping at this point. At this point it's no crime to drink this wine, but it should improve as the tannins integrate.

Les Varennes du Grand Clos is the 3rd cuvée in the Joguet stable, ranking behind the Clos du Chene Vert and Clos de la Dioterie. The domain suggests this cuvée is ready at 3-4 years of age and can last up to a decade. Having tasted this same wine 7 months ago, I'm inclined to trust those suggestions as it was more tightly wound previously. Coincidentally, Jim's Loire recently posted a nice article illustrating sorting work being done this year at Domaine Joguet.

Pros: Complex, Classic Varietal Expression, Perfectly Ripe, Medium Body, Balanced, Funk & Green Accents
Cons: Tannins Still Integrating
Decant: Yes, shop owner said he opened bottle 2+ hours in advance of tasting
Price: $30-$40
QPR: Fair/Good depending on price (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

TN: Bernard Baudry 2007 Les Granges

I love bell pepper as a secondary aroma in wine. In fact, if I open a Cab S or Cab F and smell no pepper, I'm usually a little disappointed if not depressed. The Bernard Baudry 2007 Les Granges certainly has bell pepper as a secondary aroma. But it is secondary to a virtual medley of all things green: geranium, asparagus, freshly cut grass and medicinal herbs. The bouquet was unfortunately reminiscent of a mass-produced, over-cropped Chilean wine. There was a brief period during decanting where black cherries and raspberries were really evident, but the green medley rapidly eclipsed the fruit.

The flavors, however, are significantly less herbaceous and show no medicinal qualities. While it's a lighter bodied wine, there's a nice balance of fruit and earth with fresh acidity and grippy tannins. The flavors are quite "homey," sort of comfortable like sitting on a couch in the living room. There's even a decent lingering finish provided by the tart acidity.

I should leave open the possibility of an "off" bottle since most of the cellar tracker notes suggest much more fruit. Maybe this bottle was slightly corked or already had shed all of its youthful fruit aromas for some reason. Still, I'm doubtful there was a TCA flaw simply because the wine evolved while open, and corked wines, aside from smelling like a damp, moldy basement, only seem to become more obvious over time.

Bernard Baudry is considered a star in Chinon. This is the first 2007 I've tried from Chinon or Bourgueil. It's not a good sign when a top producer (apparently) struggles with ripeness in what has been characterized as a problematic vintage. Though the 2006 vintage is unheralded, I haven't come across any wine with such under-ripe aromatics. I purchased a few other 2007s to test, but this looks like a year to approach with caution. Given how quickly the 2007s followed the 2006s, which probably suggests producers saw little point in barrel aging their basic cuvees, it'll be a while before the more promising 2008s show up. With the 2005s mostly sold through, 2006 looks like the safer option in Chinon and Bourgueil at the moment.

Pros: Lively Acidity, Approachable Tannins, Light Body
Cons: Overly Herbaceous Bouquet, Evolved Poorly w/ Aeration
Decant: Yes, but only briefly
Price: $15 from K&L Wines
QPR: Mediocre (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)