2021 Baudry-Dutour Cuvee ‘Le Pin’ Chinon

Bright, juicy red fruit, savory mineral notes and hints of white pepper on the well-structured finish. Le Pin is from a single, organically-farmed parcel.
100% Cabernet Franc, all stainless steel.

While the Baudry family has been cultivating grapes since the 1300s, the Baudry-Dutour estate dates only from 2003, as a partnership between Christophe Baudry (whose uncle is Chinon legend Bernard Baudry) and enologist/ master viticulturist Jean Martin Dutour. Dutour oversees all the estate’s organic vineyards and winemaking, using indigenous yeasts, and never fines or filters the estate’s wines. The duo’s ‘Le Pin’ is the everyday drinker in the lineup, fermented partially carbonic, all stainless, no wood. It smells like juicy blackberries, which carry over onto the silky palate punctuated by crunchy fall fruit and a subtle green spice.

Baudry-Dutour cuts no corners to make this delicious, accessible Chinon. The fruit comes from their flagship estate, Domaine du Roncée in Panzoult on the eastern edge of Chinon, with classic clay-limestone soils of the old Vienne terraces. Everything is done to protect the fruitiness of the grapes without depriving of their richness. Grapes are sorted out on the vines, gravity-fed into tank to keep their integrity, and vinified in separate plots. The wine presents a seductive nose of fresh black berries and spices with a silky and « gouleyant » texture.