Patrick Baudouin - Savennières 2014

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

Patrick Baudouin tried his hand at a thousand different jobs before settling down as a bookseller in Paris. At the age of 40, he decided to return to the family estate, which was scraping by on just one and a half hectares. His reading proved useful in rediscovering the essence of the great sweet wines of Layon, before beet sugar and almost systematic chaptalization smoothed out these golden wines. As a purist, he chose the path of excellence, without compromise. When he started out in 1990, he only made sweet wines. Encouraged by François Raveneau, a great winemaker from Chablis, he began growing dry white wines in 2001. With 14 hectares of vines (including 10 hectares of Chenin, one hectare in Quarts de Chaume and 90 ares in Savennières), located on the most spectacular terroirs of the Anjou Noir (schist, sandstone, and volcanic rock) and cultivated organically, he crafts magnificent whites with his loyal assistant Christophe Durand (who arrived in 2012). A model estate, not to be missed, which seeks the true identity of Chenin.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the estate:

Patrick Baudouin, an energetic man in his sixties, fought to establish the production of natural sweet wines in Layon at the end of the 20th century. This former Parisian bookseller, who returned to the Anjou region of his ancestors in the early 1990s, has experienced many ups and downs. The arrival of a majority financial partner (Union Harmonie Mutuelles) enabled the estate to acquire additional resources and achieve high quality objectives. The hard work is paying off and the wines have never been so accomplished, with beautiful reds but above all white Anjou wines illustrating the diversity of the terroirs and, in terms of sweet wines, an admirable Quarts-de-Chaume. More than ever, Patrick Baudoin is playing an active role in promoting Anjou Chenin.