Salil wrote:Not as much a case of trying it young as enjoying what it has to offer now.
I find that a lot of top Loire Cab Franc (Clos Rougeard and Baudry in particular) are compelling young as there's already a fascinating herbal/earthy/high toned complexity around all the rich primary fruit. It's not like drinking a young Bordeaux or Hermitage where the wines hint at potential behind a ton of structure - young Baudry for me provides an incredible pleasure that's worth opening a few bottles to enjoy, and different from the pleasures they offer with age.
I don't know if the wines go through muted/'closed' phases in their development, but the various Baudrys I've had at different ages suggest they're great wines to follow and reward opening at a lot of different points.
Salil, I go along with what you say there. Wines show different facets as they age and one is missing something if one always insists on "mature" bottles, though closed periods are best avoided if one can time them accurately. One of the things which keeps me buying against a well stocked cellar of wines 10 years old upwards is the desire for the vibrant freshness of young wines.
However I am wary of the more ambitious cuvées of Loire CabFranc when young, although they are nothing like so undrinkable as 90% of "great" Bordeaux less than, say, 10 years of age, which for me are spoilt by undigested wood flavours. AFAIK I've never tasted a Croix Boissée as young as your 2009 and I guess that the fact that Baudry uses no new wood helps its digestibility.
BTW have you tried the white Croix Boissée? A lovely wine made in tiny quantities.
.