When the fraud squad raided Verget from Verget.

Jean-Marie Guffens, a winemaker in Macon who founded Maison Verget, endured a decade-long investigation by French authorities, including Customs and Fraud office. It started in 2001 after the grapes were harvested but before the winery staff had even filed the harvest paperwork. And it continued ebbing and flowing, with allegations that Guffens was blending wine from the south into his Burgundies. In the 27-minute video, Guffens declares that “we live in a banana republic” with “mafia-style” raids including a surprise winery inspection with 25 officers, and accusations of complicity against the staff. His wife and members of the staff were even held in custody for two days. Eventually, in 2010, the charges were dropped. Guffens sued to have his name exonerated and– SPOLIER ALERT!–a judge in Beaune ruled in his favor in November.

This action and the heavy-handed tactics over Olivier Cousin’s whimsical labeling, set against the backdrop of declining domestic wine consumption, illustrate the difficult days for many French vignerons. I’ll add it to my file for updating Wine Politics.

Will dogmatism die? Sommelier Raj Parr disavows 14% as a litmus test for pinot; other somms say they are not into “natural” or organic wine movement as much as they are into the “good wine movement.”

Will prices of European wines fall if the euro weakens? Dream on.

Will India drink more wine? If import tariffs are significantly lowered, it can only help.

Will China go straight to the source and buy more wineries? The state-owned COFCO bought Biscottes in Chile in 2010, in part as a result of preferential tariffs; it could be a harbinger of things to come.

Will Americans put less wine on the table? Economic malaise could derail two decades of per capita growth in wine consumption; craft beer represents a real threat.

Will the Chinese embrace white wines? They go much better with the cuisine than reds.

Will Yao Ming’s small production wine boost all of California wine in China?

Will Bordeaux downturn morph into a free fall? Probably not but the top wines have already slowed notably.

Will box wines get better? In the category that producers and consumers like for the cost-savings, the trend is up but it has a long way to go.

Will wine writers disclose potential conflicts of interest? Transparency is key.

Will more wine blogs cease? The lack of a financial model still plagues the medium.

Will remaining wine blogs get better? Twitter and Facebook have siphoned off the “what I drank last night” posts; in order to break through the chatter, blogs have to have a strong voice, point of view, or original contribution relevant to the broader discussion about wine.

Will a wine newsletter fold? Charging anything limits audience size.

Will points self-destruct? Score inflation is rampant and remains the biggest threat to scores themselves.

Will more retailers become points-free zones? As Americans’ confidence with wine climbs, shops may not need to turn to third-party shelf-talkers.

Will freer trade in wine emerge within the US? New Jersey indicates a limited yes but the biggest unknown is what will happen with HR 1161 in the unpredictable lame duck Congress in November and December.

Will romorantin be the next hot grape variety? No, but it’s worth trying a good example.

Will malbec’s growth slow? Probably, if only because it can’t grow at 49% forever.

Will wine come from more far-flung parts of the world? Yes–crack a foreign pronunciation guide to unlock the frequent discount hidden behind unpronounceable or difficult words on labels.

Will wine remain fun? Oh yes.

Have questions of your own? Hit the comments and share them!

Erwan, 32, is the seventh generation in his family to run the company, which was founded in 1825 as a negociant, buying and selling wine. When his father was 25, Erwan’s grandfather literally turned over the keys to his dad. And in 2005 when Erwan was 25, his father continued the tradition and put Erwan in charge (Erwan himself has no children, so his position is likely safe for 25+ years). I sat down with Erwan in New York a few weeks ago to talk about how he has improved the house style, overcoming paternal resistance, vineyard acquisitions and biodynamic winemaking.

With the weight of generations on their shoulders, today’s heirs to the storied estates of Europe could be forgiven for having one primary goal: not screwing up. And when the family company holds a jaw-dropping 300 acres of vineyards in Burgundy, including 25 acres of Grand Cru, and makes wine across 18 different appellations, the pressure ratchets up even further. I could certainly understand if a scion asked for the instruction manual along with the keys and followed everything to the letter; ripping up the manual would seem like a remote possibility.

So when Erwan took over in 2005, he was careful not to rock the boat. He grew up in Nuits-St.-Georges and studied in Versailles (and later did an MBA at Columbia in New York). He told me that he wasn’t happy the first two years running the domaine, as he contemplated a change in style and personnel. He went out into the market and discussed changes with key accounts in the Japan and the US and elsewhere. In the end, he decided that “when you don’t take risks, you don’t make great wines.” He hired a new technical director and a general manager, Bernard Hervet. The shift was underway; he didn’t rip up the manual entirely, he just did a total rewrite.

Describing the stylistic transition, Erwan says that his father prefers strength, where has he prefers more elegance making a comparison as shifting from Nuits-St-Georges to more Chambolle in style. His inspirations for the shift were the wines of Dujac, Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Domaine Henri Gouges, and Dominique Lafon. Erwan shelled out for a new vertical press at the winery, paid more attention to the wood for barrels, and purchased vineyards in the Cotes de Beaune, including two acres in Batard-Montrachet.

The results in the glass are terrific. The 2009 Bourgogne wines, made from mostly purchased grapes, are both solid examples of Burgundy under $20. The 2009 Clos des Myglands, a premier cru from Mercurey, offers good depth, acidity and a tannic structure that provides intrigue. The 2009 La Combe aux Moines, a premier cru from Gevrey Chambertin, climbs the scale in terms of quality showing a lot of richness, minerality on top of approachable tannins with a good does of come-hither fruits earthiness on the nose. The 2009 Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley, a grand cru, is a terrifically rich wine that is not over-the-top, just concentrated with ample stuffing. Young as it is, my time with it in the glass showed an unfurling of aromas–spices, red fruits, plums and earthiness–and layers of complexity on the palate. It’s pretty sexy stuff.

Although we tasted all 2009s, I asked Erwan which vintage he preferred, the 2009s, which have been derided by some contrarian-minded Burghounds as underwhelming in favor of the 2008s. He replied that while the 2008 was very classic and fresh, he preferred the 2009. In the vineyard, he said, there was so much perfect fruit in 2009 while in 2008, some selection had to be done. As to biodynamaics, he worked with only one grower who was biodynamic but he asked him to stop in 2010, citing the large amount of copper and silica used in the vineyard treatments.

Are more vineyard purchases in the offing? “I would love to purchase a vineyard in Chablis,” he said. He has his eye on one site and every year he thinks it will be the year. But that might actually happen this year, he says, citing a January 31 change in the capital gains tax on real estate that may trigger sales. A developing story–just like the domaine.

By Tim Eustis

Beaujolais Nouveau succeeded in the United States and beyond thanks mostly to the marketing prowess of Georges Duboeuf. More fun than good, his wines are drinkable for perhaps a bottle, but no more. Then came the backlash against the flower label wine and cultured yeast 71B with its characteristic “gout de banane.” The exciting rise of more “natural” Beaujolais Noveau, that lacks the banana flavors we’d come to expect, is a pleasure to sip. I unlocked my bike and set out to survey the wines–and the joyous scene–in some exciting wine shops in Paris.

My first tasting this year was at Cave Augé. Sadly, their usual array of barrels on the sidewalk offering the Vin Nouveau was missing. Apparently the upstairs neighbor had complained one too many times to the authorities. I learned some new French words when discussing this woman with the staff. Though they only had a few offerings, Foillard’s was one of them. This wine was a great example of a perfect Beaujolais Nouveau, fruity, solid but supple, and balanced. Happily, it was available at the next store I visited too, Lavinia.

Lavinia gets a bad rap for being too big, too slick, too expensive, and it might well be all those things. But they have good wine. As well, they had an excellent Côtes du Rhône vin nouveau from Domaine Richaud — this house makes very pure Côtes du Rhône, with the classic red fruit, earth and barnyard flavors, and a hint of fizz from a really young wine.

It was clear to me that these primeur wines, the vin nouveau, though originally made as a way to test the current vintage, but which had become a marketing scheme, have been taken more seriously by the producers. Surely these aren’t vin de garde, wines to age. But for pleasant and light drinking right now, they’re perfect. An amusing window display at Le Repaire de Bacchus — a chain of stores, which carries quite a nice selection — stated “Banane toi-même.” Banana yourself; thus stateth the backlash.

Off I rode to Le Mesturet, a local restaurant who was pouring Drouhin’s Beaujolais Nouveau. Surprisingly dense for such a young wine, I might well have mistaken it for a light village wine. Afterward, I hit a few other shops and went home for a nap. (Obligatory on Beaujolais Nouveau day.) Sarah and I then walked down that evening to Ma Cave Fleury, owned by a member of the well known Champagne house, Fleury. (Their Extra Brut 1995 vintage Champagne is one of the best Champagnes I’ve had the luck to taste. Only 45€ at the store. $100 if you can find it in the states.) Morgan Fleury has a selection of organic and biodynamic wines, and a loyal clientele who gather outside sipping champagne and noshing on charcuterie plates especially on Beaujolais Nouveau night. A Parisian horn band, les Charlots d’Eon, provided the musical entertainment; there were oysters, which went well with the cloudy, Loire Vin Nouveau; and we followed that with another glass of the Domaine Richaud Côtes du Rhône nouveau.

A total of five tastings, many glasses of wine, and one of the more amusing versions of Blondie’s “Call Me” made for a wonderful Parisian celebration. And not a hint of banana. Banane toi-même.

Above photo: “This is what Beaujolais Nouveau is all about. Ma Cave Fleury – best wine shop in my hood.”

Le Repaire de Bacchus, Vente, Achat, Vins, Champagnes …
www.lerepairedebacchus.com/
Vente de vins en ligne, vins français et étrangers, achat de primeurs.

Le Mesturet‎

77 Rue Richelieu

75002 Paris

01 42 97 40 68

lemesturet.com‎

Caves Augé

116 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris

01 45 22 16 97

LAVINIA MADELEINE

3 Boulevard de la Madeleine, 75001 Paris

01 42 97 20 20 ‎

Domaine Richaud – Rhône

Marcel Richaud

Route Rasteau 84290 Cairanne

04 90 30 85 25

Ma Cave Fleury

177 Rue St Denis, 75002 Paris

01 40 28 03 39 ‎ · macavefleury.fr

French tax code previously had a zero percent tax on property held more than 15 years. No capital gains tax–and this is a land where the candidate from the parti socialiste has a 60-40 lead over the incumbent president? John Boehner must me gnashing his teeth.

The reform, introduced by PM Francois Fillon and ratified last month, would maintain the zero capital gains on property but push the holding period back to thirty years. (To ease the transition somewhat, in the intervening years, sellers will be able to step up their cost basis by the official rate of inflation.) Foreign owners may pay different rates. Here’s how one site calculates the change in tax bills:

A French property bought by a UK resident for €500,000 in 1996 and sold 15 years later for €1m, for example, would not pay any French Capital Gains Tax on the €500,000 profit made.

If the same property, in the same circumstances, was sold after 1 February 2012, only 20% of the profit (€100,000) would be free from taxation. The remaining €400,000 would be subject to 19% tax, resulting in a €76,000 tax bill.

While we’re not so interested in the holiday house market on this site, the net result is that some property holders who have held for about 15 years but not yet thirty may attempt to dump properties before the law goes into effect. That could mean some vineyards will change hands. Developing…

His transgression? Goofing around with names. The biodyanamic farmer of 25 acres in Anjou told Jim Budd that he left the AOC system in 2003 because it was too lax. “I stopped because the AOC is for industrial wines as the rules permit everything: weedkillers, huge yields, additives etc.” He thus marketed his wines as vin de table, the category at the bottom of the French administrative category as few are bold enough to do (as I detailed in Wine Politics). He marketed one of his wines as “Anjou Pur Breton,” which somehow made it past the authorities for several years despite containing a place name and a grape name (Breton is a local name for Cabernet Franc).

His distributor wrote “AOC” allegedly for “Anjou Olivier Cousin” on cases of his wines. This, coupled with his refusal to pay obligatory dues to an association, was the straw that broke the administrative camel’s back: He has been threatened with a significant fine, possible jail time, and one of his bank accounts have been impounded. The decision of how to proceed now lies with a prosecutor in Angers.

The crackdown on this sympathetic figure appears to have backfired. Thanks to the global reach of the internet, awareness of his treatment is high. Over 500 people have signed a petition on a French blog, his American importer is also mounting a campaign for signatures, and his UK importer is helping pay his legal bills. It’s sad that the Loire, site of so many distinctive wines that offer France a calling card overseas, is also the site of clashes with a moribund bureaucracy.

The 2010 is electric. After the 2009 had more ripeness, I find 2010 a reversion to the exciting norm of citrusy freshness and minerally, iodiney verve. Pairing it with seafood, particularly shellfish, is probably about as much fun as you can have with a $15 white wine. (search for this wine at retail) The wine comes from a single vineyard in Muscadet, one of vines planted in the 1930s. The wine stays on its lees up until bottling, which also helps account for more depth than your average Muscadet. It’s also particularly age-worthy, and I’m scouting out some magnums to tuck away. Emphasizing the minerailty over fruitiness means this wine isn’t for everyone. But for those who love wines so taut you could play a DVD on them, check out what is the best white value out there.

A runner-up would certainly be the Terres Dorées Beaujolais Blanc, a Chardonnay, also from 2010 (above, left). The wine is a perennial better value, but the 2010 exhibits a value chardonnay in its minerally, unadorned form that is stunning. (On a related note, I was a huge fan of the 2009 red Terres Dorees, but didn’t find the 2010 red to have the same snap.)

Which wine would you nominate as the best white wine around $15 in the market today?

Last week, I made my wife a birthday dinner. But before I started covering the kitchen counter and, inadvertently, the floor and my clothes with flour to make fresh pasta, I popped open a bottle of slightly chilled Mugnier Clos de la Marechale 2007. By the time we got to the table, I was dismayed to find most of the wine had evaporated!

The 2007 Clos de la Marechale is drinking very well now. I had the good fortune of tasting the 08 and the 09 this week too at a trade tasting. While the 07 is the least heralded of these vintages, it is certainly not one to overlook with delicious balance of fruit, acidity and tannin. The ’08 has more red berry notes, acidity, tannin, balance and gorgeous oomph that bodes well for a long cellar life. The ’09 has more dark fruit character, slightly more ripeness and roundness and elegant concentration, with a spice note that culminates an a faint whiff of pepper. All bear the signature of Frédérique Mugnier for the “bargain” price of under $100. (Find these wines)

Peter Wasserman, who works to export the wines, told me that “Freddy” Mugnier, the winemaker and a former petrochemical engineer, has undertaken a geological survey of the vineyard this year. While the wine making remains very hands-off, for the first time, he will be harvesting the grapes from similar soils and making the wines by those parcels instead of by vine age (45 – 70 years old). All the vats will still be blended in to the 2011 Clos de la Marechale.

Well, wonder no more. San Francisco architect and professor David Gissen worked up just such a map; now it is available for purchase as a cool 18 x 24 wall decoration. Each region gets its own color like one of the subway lines and the subregions are various stops. Here’s what Gissen said via email about his inspiration for the map:

I guess I made the map as a sort of loving critique. I feel that the American appreciation of EU wine is dominated by a pastoralist point of view and aesthetic. If I see another picture of a vineyard or pruning shears, or a wine map that looks like a hiking map, I might lose it. I believe that French wine (like all EU wine) was born in and through villages, towns and cities. From my perspective it’s completely urban. I want to make some artifacts that express my point of view. The map is the first of these. I may make others, but I’m not sure. Of course, if you need to learn the appellations, the metro-wine map is useful, but I’m not primarily interested in its instrumentality. I’m more interested in its ability to shift what we understand wine to be.

And things are heating up in talking about weather in the wine world. Especially if you are in Bordeaux that is, since it is en fuego! Or something like that: The heat has been abnormally high and the rainfall is way below average. So if the drought-like conditions keep up, the reduced supply of grapes could push wine prices even higher! Is it 2003 all over again? The vintage in Burgundy is also advanced.

By contrast, cut to the Auction Napa Valley this past weekend and people were breaking out the umbrellas rather than the sunscreen. Weather has been cool across the state. Rhys Vineyards has vineyards in more of the marginal weather areas of California and therefore is rightfully weather-obsessed, so their Twitter feed is an excellent source of weather info. Temperatures at their Skyline Vineyard, perched at 2,300-ft elevation, hovered at 49.6 degrees Fahrenheit in May, making it one of the seven coldest Mays since 1931; their vine shoots are about two or three inches behind, they tweet. They say that weather in late June is key for the fruit set so they don’t mean to sound gloomy. And after California’s cool and damp 2010 vintage, the “high-octane,” “fruit-bomb” style is taking it from all sides these days.

Australia was in the headlines for the devastating Queensland floods earlier this year. But even some of the wine growing regions were hit by heavy, “seven year rains” that rotted unpicked grapes quickly and made for a lot of grape selection both in the vineyard and on sorting tables. The Sydney Morning Herald explicitly linked the “soggy” weather to lower alcohol levels.

It’s weird that California and France appear to have flipped weather so far for 2011–there’s something you can talk about in your next elevator ride. Just don’t let the Mayans know since I think that was part of their their 2012 prophecy…

Muscadet gains richness with time spent on the lees. Lees are neither Confederate generals nor blue jeans but rather spent yeast cells that fall to the bottom of the barrel or tank when their work is done. Stirring them can give a wine a broader, heftier feeling–without at all adding woodiness.

At Luneau-Papin, the wines not only highlight different soil types, but also different lees aging.The tasty “L d’Or” comes from both granite and gneiss soils and sees 11 months on the lees. (This wine can also do well with extended aging in bottle as the 1999 I recently tasted was fresh and delicious.) The golden “Excelsior” bottling, from schist soils, sees 36 months on the lees and is creamier and richer. Their structured “Peuri Solis” sees 42 months on the lees before bottling.

As the name of the grape (Melon de Bourgonge) suggests, it originally hailed from Burgundy. Some juice from Pierre Luneau-Papin’s vineyards recently made a trip back to Burgundy to be made into wine by none other than the maestro J-F Coche, making me wonder if it would be, in fact, be a Melon de Meursault. A call to Coche (he has no email or website I could find) divulged that he had, in fact, mad a “miniscule” amount of Melon de Bourgogne. Coche-Dury has been known to drive wine enthusiasts to the brink of their senses in seeking out his wines. Alas, this curiosity won’t ever be available commercially as Coche says it for “personal consumption.” But it sure would be fun to try!

A case study is unfolding in France. On January 1, a small wine producer going by the name of “Olivier B.” announced on his web site that he was hanging it up. He makes a range of reds and whites from the Côtes du Ventoux appellation that sell for about 12 – 30 euros. He put a picture of his bottles in the shape of a cross, with the hat that adorns the labels of all his wines in the middle, and said it had been his cross to bear for the past few years and the dream was over. His love was lost, both the winery and his parter (simply, “elle”) who said she could not support him any more in this venture. The warehouse where he made his wine was for sale and the bank wouldn’t grant him a line of credit to buy it.

The French blogosphere then turned Olivier B. into a cause celebre the misfortune of small vignerons. Many rallied to his cause (see a summary). Two bloggers organized a public tasting of his wines in Paris. The big breakthrough appears to have been when the Miss Glou Glou blog at lemonde chimed in. Then a local paper, La Provence, picked up his story. Then AFP ran a story. The media tsunami continued with TV channel Canal+ and radio stations from France, Belgium and Switzerland running stories. Traffic to his blog took off. But more importantly, sales started flowing, and he had 20,000 euros of sales in two weeks.

He wrote in a posting on his blog that making “Parkerized” wines was never his objective but during his deepest, darkest moments, he did think that if he got a 95-point score from Parker that all his problems would be solved. But now, he says, thanks to the blogosphere he has “hundreds of Parkers” to thank for the turnaround.

This fascinating story isn’t over, of course. Check out Olivier’s blog for the latest. One interesting aspect is that despite the apparent globalization of the internet, this story hasn’t reached the English language blogosphere or media. Another is that the blogosphere rallied in an advocacy mode. Whether and how many times it could be repeated is an open question. But certainly Olivier B. is glad it has worked so well this time.

What’s your assessment of the risk and reward of white Burgundy?

The whole lineup—complete with a surprise!—follows after the jump.

Francois et Antoine Jobard, Meursault, “En la Barre,” 2002: only slightly oxidized, but still too tired at this young an age.
Ballot-Millot, Meursault Perrieres, 2002: oxidized.
Bernard Morey et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, “Les Embrazées,” 2003: from the hot vintage, the wine was flabby and a little tired.
Marc Colin et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, “Les Chenevottes,” 2003: fresher than the Morey, not oxidized, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Arnaud Ente, Puligny-Montrachet, “Les Referts,” 2004: the oak hadn’t fully integrated yet, but the wine had good freshness and still seemed to have the potential for more rewards in the future.
Vincent Girardin, Puligny-Montrachet, “Les Referts,” 2002: a honeyed note on the aroma and an oily texture on the palate made this seem more like a white Rhone.
Bernard Moreau et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, “La Maltroie,” 2004: good acidity and noticeable oak, this wine is built on a chassis of acidity that seems to bode well for future aging.
Colin-Déléger Chassagne-Montrachet, “En Remilly” 2004: really funky nose that was offputting; the palate was

BLIND: our host poured these two wines to us blind, calling them both grands crus.
Domaine Jacques Prieur, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, 2005. Another wine that seemed oddly Rhone-like and advanced. I didn’t have a specific guess on this one but when the bottle was unveiled, I was surprised and disappointed that an 05 grand cru showed this poorly.
Kistler, Sonoma Valley, Durrell Vineyard, 2004. Really golden in the glass. Alcohol jutting out a bit. The oak was still pronounced. I said it seemed as if it were worked harder in the cellar than in the vineyard. I guessed Marcassin.

How does cabernet franc age? On my recent trip to the Loire, I got an excellent chance to explore this issue at the cellars of none other than Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon, one of my favorite producers in the Loire.

Matthieu, the jovial, thirty-something son of Bernard who has been with the domaine since 2000, led us in a tasting of the more-or-less current releases and a few back vintages as well. The Domaine makes only wines from cabernet franc, with the exception of a white wine from chenin blanc at the Croix Boisée vineyard. The 2010 rosé is superb and not to be missed though, sadly, because of its relative scarcity, many people will miss it (so call your favorite wine retailer to see how to secure some for this summer).

Generally speaking, the wines under $20 retail offer great value and are ready to drink now or in the next few years. The single-vineyard wines from the higher vineyards, planted to limestone soil, offer more reward for aging. As to vintages, I found the 2008s to be drinking well now for the lower vineyards while the upper vineyards show great potential but still could benefit from a few years in the cellar to fully integrate the beautiful acidity and still youthful tannin. The 2009s are gorgeous but seem slightly rounder–a great vintage for introducing the Loire to people more accustomed to drinking wines from warmer climates.

I’ve often gotten confused with the various bottlings of the domaine. Although the vineyards are not contiguous, they are all farmed without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, all the grapes are all hand-harvested, and fermentations occur only with natural yeasts. The least expensive bottling is Les Granges, which comes from twenty-year-old vines in sandy-gravelly soils low down by the River Vienne, a tributary of the Loire. The “Domaine” wine comes from both lower and higher vineyards and is also fermented in a concrete-lined tanks. While I like the Les Granges bottling, the sweet spot for me is the Domaine in both 08 and 09, which combine the gulpability of fun fruit with some tannic intrigue. Really, these wines in particular are tremendous values and are among the most rewarding wines in the US market for under $20.

Here’s a picture of the different soil types of each vineyard:

And here’s a map of the vineyards to help orient you:

The Grézeaux bottling comes from 50-year-old vines in soil of gravel and clay. The fermentation occurs in concrete vats and the aging happens in older, wood vats. The tannins are fine; the wine in 2009 exhibits fine tannins while the 2008 could benefit from more bottle age (or a good decant).

The Clos Guillot and the Croix Boisee harness the limestone magic soils; fermentation occurs in wooden vats while aging happens in barrel (slightly younger for the Croix Boisee). In both cases, the 2009s had a bit more accessibility in the tannins. With the 08s, Matthieu said that they thought it was the best cooler vintage of Croix Boisee they’d had and that the acid and tannin of cabernet franc need a while to meld. I’d tend to agree. I’d also venture that this wine would last a couple of decades and would like to buy a few bottles to tuck away for my son born in 2008.

Speaking of aging Chinon, we did try some older vintages. The 2002 Grezeaux still had plenty of freshness and a bit of that herbal–but good herbal–character of cab franc. The 2000 Grezeaux was more advanced and leathery, with drier tannins–more of the drink now category. The 1998 Croix Boisee came from what Matthieu described as “the worst vintage,” but the resulting wine was still in fine form. The wine was tasty and delicious with a great vibrancy suggesting many years ahead of it. The 2004 Croix Boisee was high-toned and the acid and the tannin that seemed on opposite sides of the glass in the 08s (fine as they are in their own corners) had started to integrate but it still was austere. Perhaps it needs food. One American in the tasting room said he had attended a dinner recently of every vintage of the last ten of Croix Boisee and the 2004 stole the show. While I don’t doubt his report, the delicious 2003 would certainly have outpaced it in my view. The heat wave vintage rendered few wines worth aging for a couple of decades, something on my mind since it is another birth year in our family. However the 2003 had good acidity and tannin, as well as a plummy mushroomy note. Since it is all sold out everywhere, and Matthieu also has a son born in 2003, he told me to send my son over to share a bottle from his son’s stash a decade or two hence. A lovely gesture from a charming guy.

Check out that limestone!

Matthieu Baudry in the barrel room

Matthieu behind a furry bottle

The experiment first started in 2003. Frustrated by the different evolution of wines under cork, Baumard started with the Clos du Papillon bottling from Savennieres: Half the production went under cork, half under screw cap (aka Stelvin closure). Within two years all the still wines were under screwcap. I tasted the 2007 Clos du Papillon Savennieres and didn’t find it reduced but it was tight, presumably from youth. I also had a 1999 Clos de Saint Yves Savennieres, bottled under cork, that wasn’t showing too much evolution; instead it was rich, layered and deliciously complex as chenin blanc can be. So is it the right call? Who knows. One day in the future, it would be fascinating to taste some of those ’03s bottled under different closures.

I tweeted about the screw caps–not exactly breaking news, but interesting nonetheless–and someone joked if Florent wasn’t just a little bit Australian. No, he replied, but after his saga with verdelho, he admitted he admires their freedoms.