WTN: '02 Baumard

Domaine des Baumard 2002 Savennières, the regular bottling. Mercifully fresh nose, light straw color. Moderate acidity, all the edges are sanded down, but there's also not a ton of tertiary flavor development here, and the wine seems a little lacking in concentration. My first bottle of the 1996 vintage of this wine was my "aha!" Chenin, so there's part of me that's probably holding every subsequent bottle and every subsequent vintage to an unrealistic standard; but based on this and on David's recent note on a 2002 Papillon, I think I'll hold my last bottle of this (and my Papillons) for a while longer.

Domaine des Baumard 2002 Savennières, My first bottle of the 1996 vintage of this wine was my "aha!" Chenin, so there's part of me that's probably holding every subsequent bottle and every subsequent vintage to an unrealistic standard...

Yes, those lightbulb moments and special bottles do have a way of making a repeat of their pleasures elusive. But it's also likely that your tastes have evolved/matured since then.

[David M. Bueker]

I had the '02 Clos du Papillon a few weeks ago and was unimpressed.

Yup, saw that (and referred to it above) while looking for recent notes on this wine. This wasn't bad; it just could have been a lot more.

This wasn't bad; it just could have been a lot more.

Sounds like Baumard.

[David M. Bueker]

That's what I get for skimming

Okay, Rahsaan, I'll bite. Have you always been lukewarm on Baumard, or is it a more recent development? I don't think I've ever heard anyone characterize the house that way in general -- which isn't a challenge to your opinion, just intrigued!

[David M. Bueker]

Last Baumard I had that came close to thrilling was a 1997

Okay, Rahsaan, I'll bite. Have you always been lukewarm on Baumard, or is it a more recent development? I don't think I've ever heard anyone characterize the house that way in general -- which isn't a challenge to your opinion, just intrigued!

I think like many of the American wine internet folks in our 'era', they were one of the first names I came across for Loire chenin, and the wines were good enough and easy to find, so they seemed worth drinking.

But as I discovered more 'boutique' producers (Closel was one of the early ones, then maybe Pierre-Bise, of course the hit-and-miss with Joly or the various natural wine guys), Baumard quickly seemed a lot more middle-of-the-road in terms of pleasure. Of course one complicating factor is that the Anjou region (and Savennieres in particular) is very uneven and inconsistent and lacking clear leadership when compared to the chenins of Vouvray and Montlouis.

Admittedly I don't drink much Baumard these days, so I would not know if they have more exciting developments in recent vintages. But my general impression (big, famous, not bad, not great) is shared by most of the folks I know in the US (admittedly a special sample) and in France/the Loire (where of course Baumard is very controversial for pushing their cryoextraction methods).

Very interesting, thanks. I think I followed a similar trajectory in the beginning -- but then stopped paying much attention, since time and money were being pulled in other directions for several years. Consequently, the scraps of Baumard I still have in my cellar are almost all from 1996-2002; and while I've had Closel and Joly in restaurants, I've never sought them out to purchase.