WTN: Baudry Les Granges - 2009 and 2010 comparative

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2009
A mixture of fruits, precious woods and pencil shavings, and vegetation (dandelion leaves for me). I'd like a little more grip on the palate, but the tannins nevertheless suit the wine well.

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2010
(At first I was suspicious this was cork tainted below TCA threshold, creating a mustier/duller nose, but decided later it was probably the wine's character/youth.)
Darker fruited than the 2009, and more dusty, with none of the 2009's woods or vegetation. A little sanguinous (like beef blood). Fuller in the mouth and more structured than the 2009. The following day the oak was much more obvious which detracted.

Based on this comparative tasting, at present I'd much rather drink the 2009. Anyone else have thoughts regarding the relative merits of this wine for those two vintages?

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2010 The following day the oak was much more obvious which detracted.

I haven't tasted the 2010 so I have no idea if they've changed things, but to my knowledge previous vintages of this wine have never been raised in oak of any kind. (Website also says this is only fermented and aged in tank: http://www.chinon.com/vignoble/Bernard-Baudry/vins.aspx)

Plus it is their 'entry level' cuvee so I don't see them suddenly applying new oak.

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2010 The following day the oak was much more obvious which detracted.

I haven't tasted the 2010 so I have no idea if they've changed things, but to my knowledge previous vintages of this wine have never been raised in oak of any kind. (Website also says this is only fermented and aged in tank: http://www.chinon.com/vignoble/Bernard-Baudry/vins.aspx)

Plus it is their 'entry level' cuvee so I don't see them suddenly applying new oak.

Yes, that reference to oak surprised me too. I note from the link that even La Croix Boissée, his top cuvée, sees no NEW oak but once to 3 times used barrels only. These should have a certain tactile effect but impart little wood flavouring.

I think the link talks about fermentation in cement tanks but is silent about maturation. I've run into wines where the oak seemed obvious despite the wine having seen only used barrels. I think at a certain point in youth the fruit recedes and the wood becomes more obvious than it should be.

[David M. Bueker]

Per the link Bob Parsons posted a couple of days ago Les Granges is vinified in steel and has its elevage in cement.

Sometimes we taste what we want to taste, and not what is there.

to my knowledge previous vintages of this wine have never been raised in oak of any kind. (Website also says this is only fermented and aged in tank: http://www.chinon.com/vignoble/Bernard-Baudry/vins.aspx)

Thanks for the comment, Rahsaan. I often get a kind of woody/twiggy/sawn wood note from Cab Franc fruit, which is very similar to the woody notes that can derive from oak. It seems my interpretation of the derivation of that character here was incorrect, but the wine certainly showed that character for me (and it came to dominate after the wine had been open for while).

Sometimes we taste what we want to taste, and not what is there.

Except that in this case, it wasn't a character that I wanted! The character was certainly there, the origins of its source are what the issue was here.

Has anyone here tasted both these wines?

Has anyone here tasted both these wines?

I believe that Bernard Celce has:

http://www.wineterroirs.com/2012/02/bernard_baudry_chinon_loire.html#more

Mark Lipton