2011 Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée

Domaine Bernard Baudry is located in the village of Cravant-les-Coteaux and in the town of Chinon, in France’s Loire Valley. It was founded in 1975 when Bernard Baudry, then a young wine consultant with a degree in oenology from Beaune, decided to start his own domaine. He purchased 5 acres of vineyards. Today the domaine owns 75 acres and Bernard works with his son Matthieu, who joined the family domaine in 2000 after studying winemaking and working in California and Tasmania. The domaine grows Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc and produces its wine in what the French call the biodynamic, or natural method, meaning grapes are grown organically and tended and harvested by hand. Additional sugar, yeasts and sulfur dioxide are avoided during fermentation. Domaine Bernard Baudry makes several cuvees from various vineyards, and has won praise from the Wine Advocate, among other journals.

Touraine AOC is a sub-appellation of the Loire Valley, one of France’s largest and most picturesque wine regions. Located around the city of Tours, the region is known as château country because of the many fairy-tale castles located along the Loire River, its tributaries and plains. Touraine was awarded AOC status in 1939 and it includes 13,000 acres and 70 communes. Red, white and rosé wines can be made in this AOC. Red grapes grown in Touraine are Gamay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Pinot Noir. The white wine grapes grown here are Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Red Touraines are tannic and sometimes fruity. Whites are dry and full-bodied. Wine writer Hugh Johnson notes that the best reds of Touraine “have all the fragrance and charm of Cabernet Franc.”

This is a parent grape to Cabernet Sauvignon. It most likely originates from Basque country. It is an excellent blending grape, known for making the exquisite Cheval-Blanc. Franc is a little hardier on a vine than Sauvignon, but drinks smoothly at the table.