Baudry 2022 Chinon "La Croix Boissée”

"La Croix Boissée" is a superb vineyard on thin sandy clay soils over limestone (Middle Turonian calcaire micacé) high on a south-facing slope above Cravant. 25 to 55 year-old vines.  20-day fermentation in tronconic wooden vats, 24 months of aging in 1 to 4 year-old Burgundy barriques, 9 months in cement. Zero SO2 added until a small dosage at assembly, 10 to 20 mg/L, bottled unfiltered.  This is one of the greatest reds of the Loire Valley (or anywhere else for that matter) - at it's best after ten to thirty years of aging, the wine is also quite delicious, though with firm chalky tannins, when young. Unlike other famous wines of the Loire (and elsewhere) there is very gentle extraction and aging is in carefully selected used barrels and concrete, bringing great intensity of flavor but with an intriguing lightness allowing full expression of the limestone/clay soils. Tasted from barrique in Feb 2023, the wine showed superb concentration and depth but with a lovely freshness and elegance, just a beautiful wine. Here is a note from May 2024: "The nose is charming, aromatic and perfumed, with notes of red clay, peony, liquorice and white flowers. It feels tense and direct on the palate, all grained and fresh, with a simmering suggestion of tension, minerality and acidity. An impressive La Croix Boissée here; one of the greatest I have tasted" (Wine Doctor)