Bernard Baudry: Purebred Cab-Franc

** Producteur de très grande vins LE MEILLEURS VINS DE FRANCE 2009 (One of only two in Chinon with this highest rating)

David Schildknecht sums up the 09 vintage for Cab Franc: "The quality of 2009 at the best addresses is exceptional."

“For their quality [Chinon] are absurdly undervalued.” Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson, The World Atlas of Wine

We buy the Chinon from Domaine Bernard Baudry each and every year, sometimes twice a year (if possible). If we didn’t, we’d probably get lynched by the small, but ever-growing band of hardcore enthusiasts who covet an almost Masonic like secrecy around this captivating producer. The bottom line is that Baudry makes some of Chinon’s finest wines: 100% Cabernet Franc from a range of superb terroirs.

Even at its zenith, which is what we have here, Chinon is a wine that doesn’t command nearly enough respect outside the bistros of Paris or its Loire heartland. To borrow Mike Steinberger’s phrase, Loire Cab Franc has almost become the Unknown, the vinifera non grata amongst the so called noble varieties... “consumers shun it; the critics barely acknowledge it”. And yet, demand for the best producers is there, Baudry sells out quicker and quicker each year at the Domaine and we seem to be fighting harder and harder to get the allocations we require. They should sell fast; they are some of the most interesting and gloriously bohemian reds we import. If stardom eludes Chinon, the quality of wine emanating from this address may have something to say about that. The 2009 wines (there’s a cheeky 2010 as well – an exciting, tad lighter-footed follow up to 2009) show just why this vintage is so highly regarded for its red wines across Northern France. These are succulent, complex, seductively textured wines that nonetheless retain the refreshing, spicy, crunchy nuances and powdery tannins that speak so loudly of Chinon. For those new to quality Loire Cabernet Franc from a top vintage, try... learn more