Always the first wine to be released at Baudry, the Granges is the "basic" cuvèe here but still one of the top Chinon bottlings in my book as well as being one of the single greatest values in the entire valley. From fruit harvested from youngish (25-30+ year old) vines planted on alluvial gravels near the river Vienne, this wine just seems to get better every year as the vines age. Hand picked, like all of their the wines, fermented in large concrete and matured in a mix of large concrete and wood. Cherries, ripe red raspberry and tobacco dominate the nose with just a whiff of smoke. Plenty of earth and mineral but this is at heart a fresh, racy cuvée that’s meant to be drunk in its youth.