TN: 2001 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges

I love Baudry, but I've usually skipped over buying this bottling while buying Grez/CB. Enjoyed this + Domaine in the past whenever I have them, but never treat/think of them as long-agers. So when a friend texts me that he randomly found a bottle of this in his cellar (bought on release and forgotten about) and invites me Saturday night to drink it in his backyard in front of the firepit, I'm not saying no.

This is a revelation. Bottle is in perfect condition, cork looks great and comes out easily with a standard corkscrew (and barely any staining up the side). Absolutely delicious from the first sip to the last, which admittedly wasn't that much later as two of us plowed through this bottle in very little time. This tastes like a lightweight version of Grézeaux. A core of fresh, crunchy red and dark berried fruit on a light frame framed by an array of gentle herbal, tobacco, and faintly leafy notes, turning more mineral and earthy on the back end. It's drinking wonderfully right now though still shows a little grainy tannin on the back end, but the whole package is far too easy to drink right now - 12% alcohol on the label but it has the refreshment value, lightness, and sheer drinkability of an old school Riesling Kabinett (and it disappears as quickly as one of those in warm weather). First time I've had a bottle of Les Granges with some age on it, and clearly I need to start putting away a few of these alongside Baudry's higher-end Chinons.

(aside, I brought a bottle of '23 Gonon's St. Joseph blanc Les Oliviers which was outstanding - might be the best vintage of that wine I have tried. But we opened that about half an hour before the Baudry, and it was still ~1/3 full at the time when the Baudry was gone.)

[David M. Bueker]

Like you I have never bought that particular wine to cellar. Although I may have a few slightly older bottles at Horse Ridge. Need to check. Would be a good way to sort of force the aging experiment.

Like you, Salil, I've never thought to age those bottlings for any length of time. Clearly, I need to rethink that approach.

I have some 2017 Les Granges - perhaps I need not be in any great hurry to open them!

[David M. Bueker]

No hurry at all.

That's great. I have never aged the Les Granges more than 6-8 years (generally even that is unintentional) but none have been tired. 2002 was great at about 10 years old. Even so 25 years from vintage is impressive. You have good friends!

I think I drank my last bottles of 2001 and 2002 Les Granges about 15 years post vintage, though it was before I moved my inventory to CT, so I can't be sure, but they were lovely. I hadn't exactly bought them to cellar; it's more like I lost track of them. I appear to have a couple hanging around from the 2014 and 2018 vintages; I wonder if they'll hold up as well.