Le Clos Guillot Chinon Cabernet Franc

Textbook Loire CF in a perfect spot. Vibrant raspberry and purple flowers, graphite, bell pepper, umami elements. Finessed and balanced.

Iconic. Absolutely love this Chinon.

Raspberry coulis, blackberry juice, mushroom, violet, minerals and barnyard. Tart, explosive purple fruit, some feral, bramble notes on the structured palate, and a succession of furry, prickly tannins. Finish is smoky and bitter. Really massive and opaque, in its own way, hard to evaluate even on day 2. Expect this could gain .2 or more in score as elements resolve.

A sign of the Times when my Lemelson Pinot Noir from same vintage scores same aggregate score: 90 in Delectable. These are not the same experience. This Baudry is a powerhouse with multiple layers. Robust and almost bursting at the the seams with blackberry & cassis. A remarkable concentration of color, flavor, & nose-like a Volnay but more on cassis & black fruit spectrum. Also bay leaf, menthol, & eucalyptus. While I’ve held several Raffaults for our daughter’s birth year, I regret not laying down a few Baudrys given they are less prone to bottle variability. What a delicious, profound wine. Dressner import.

The 2018 Chinon Clos Guillot is a rich, focused powerhouse that's firm and direct, with dark blackberries and smoky notes. If we lived in an ideal world, this would be aged before releasing, as it's ripe yet tight and tannic, with the limestone soils providing grip along the sides of the mouth and a sense of direction. Lengthy, serious and complex, leaving the mouth full of dark berry fruit, spice and tea leaves. A baby. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, October 2021)

Pencil shaving iron medium weight cherry fruit

As always with chinon, this screams cab franc. Pencil lead shavings, earthy funk, wild/chalky raspberry(if that's a thing..), weighty; whilst being light on the palate. Really getting to the point where Loire cab francs are some of my fav wines. And with food, forget about it..

Classic no. 2 pencil lead nose. White pepper, purple flowers. Palate is tart, and pretty rustic. Fine grained tannins. Unfolds to a bouquet of lavender. Still needs time. Planning on holding another 2-3 years before opening another bottle.

From one of Baudry’s top limestone sites. Aged 12 months in 2- to 5-year-old barrels, then rests for nine months in cement tanks. Still young and rambunctious, very juicy and full of energy, very like Pinot-like. It’s one of the fruitier Baudry expressions, with lots of black and sour cherry, some blackberry and tomato, and light stoniness on the finish. Give this a year or two and it will pay back your patience. (Jason Wilson, Vinous, July 2020)

I continue to be a big fan. So balanced and pleasing.