Winedoctor

• By Chris Kissack
  June 2021, 6/1/2021 (link)

  (Prince Poniatowski Clos Baudoin Moelleux Vouvray White) Subscribe to see review text.

• By Chris Kissack
  December 2015, 12/1/2015 (link)

  (Prince Poniatowski Clos Baudoin Moelleux Vouvray White) Subscribe to see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  10/31/2015 (link)

  (?Prince Poniatowski, Le Clos Baudouin Moelleux Vouvray White) Subscribe to see review text.

Winedoctor

• By Chris Kissack
  December 2010 (link)

  (Poniatowski Vouvray Clos Baudoin Moelleux) Subscribe to see review text.

• By Chris Kissack
  August 2006 (link)

  (Poniatowski Vouvray Clos Baudoin Moelleux) Subscribe to see review text.

RJonWine.com

• By Richard Jennings
  10/7/2008 (link) 92 points

  (Prince Poniatowski Vouvray Moelleux Clos Baudoin) Light golden yellow color; cream, lime, green fruit nose; minerals, honey, lime and cream palate; medium finish

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  12/20/2007 (link)

  (Clos Baudoin (moelleux)) Happy Holidays I’m a year older with a few more wrinkles and certainly a few more memories of what makes this life so worth living. I’ve traveled around this incredible planet, started friendships (lost a few) and grew the arms of Garagiste a little larger because of it - our walls are a little more worn but it’s all for the common good - the good of our extended family that includes each and every one of you. I tend to say this every year but, until I feel otherwise, I will continue to tell you: the only motivation I need to do this everyday is the trust you give us and more importantly the trust you put in our unconventional (and sometimes frustrating) approach to this never ending world of wine - one we feel is the most rewarding hobby and opportunity for exploration of sensory enlightenment this world has to offer. Wine holds so many rewards, but it also offers the chance to bring people closer together, to share, to laugh, to experience moments together that may have been impossible or more difficult if circumstances were different. Maybe wine is the great diplomat, acting as an intermediary between personalities and behavior that may act otherwise without it. In our world of uncertainty one thing is certain - wine brings us closer together and we are all the better for it. From everyone at Garagiste - Pat, Tim, Niki, Melisa, Sarah, Jon, Matt and the crew it’s been our most sincere pleasure in 2007 guiding you on this road that is not always the easiest, but one we believe is worth the circuitous route. 2008 holds a great deal of surprises for our customer base including a few wines that I believe are the most exciting I’ve ever come across from their respective regions - certainly I will toast to that. Wherever your travels take you over the next few weeks and beyond, our most heartfelt “Happy Holidays” to all. With eager anticipation for the unknown and uncharted in 2008, the only thing left to say is... Thank You. - Jon Rimmerman **************************** Garagiste Deal of the Year Dear Friends, As we put the final touches on 2007, it’s time to offer what I feel is our finest buy of the year. The Deal of the Year phrase has been so overused by yours truly that it has almost lost the spark that was intended but that is not the case here. I probably don’t need to use it today because the price/value ratio is obvious (but I will anyway). I’ve been saving this offer since mid-February to see if I could top it as the Deal of the Year because I didn’t think I could. For a variety of reasons, I knew it would be very difficult to beat (so, I waited to send it out all year). We’ve had some pretty eye-popping deals in 2007 but, in my opinion, nothing has eclipsed this basically impossible confluence of price/provenance/vintage/region and for the perfect algorithm that crossed in this vineyard seventeen years ago, the 1990 Clos Baudoin “Moelleux” Vouvray is our Deal of the Year. If you are a fan of Baumard’s 1990 Quarts du Chaume, 1990’s Cuvee Zenith or something like 1990 Zind-Humbrecht VT’s, there’s not much to go into here - this wine is a classic 1990 sweet wine with perfect provenance. It is this winery’s top wine from one of the great overall vintages in Europe in the last 30-40 years...and it’s a steal. Sometimes, the good guys win but it’s not the norm in the corrupt wine trade where as many middle-men and rogue characters as possible place themselves in the way of your dollar, taking cut after cut. In this one instance, none of that transpired - the good guys won out and in the us vs. them world of wine, today the “us” came out on top. I’m actually not sure how to offer this as we have a parcel that can’t be added to and the margin is too small to allocate the wine - this is another instance where you're going to have to just throw your name into the ring and see what happens. I would assume this will be the most requested wine we offer in 2007 - even stronger than the Parce Coulome splits (it should be - this wine is a 1990 and it’s a 750ml). Please be patient - you will receive a response from us but it’s going to take a while to go through all of the emails. With that in mind, here goes... This wine hails from the cellars of Prince Poniatowski, an actual prince of Polish decent who is in the Stanislaw lineage. This family became French citizens in the mid 1800s when they moved to Paris (so they are probably more French at this point than Polish) and they became vineyard owners in the Loire in the early 1900s when the grandfather purchased the parcel that is the sweet spot of the Clos Baudoin. The Clos Baudoin has long been accepted as Vouvray’s most historic vineyard and potentially the single finest terroir in the entire Loire Valley. (yes, more than Le Mont, Le Haut Lieu or Clos de Bourg). This vineyard achieved Grand Cru status even before the government bestowed this honor on the best plots in the Loire but the Clos Baudoin has had a similar lineage to La Romanee, few have ever tried the wines as it is so small and been so closely kept that much of the wine has never left France. Even still, Clos Baudoin is a vineyard with a legacy like Chambertin and it has been producing Grand Cru level fruit since the early 1700s - a legend indeed. Though now retired and placed on a pedestal in Vouvray like the late Henri Jayer of Burgundy, Prince Poniatowski seemed to take great pleasure in hording his bounty (rather than selling it) which is one of the main reasons this parcel of 1990 was available. Through the years, he made several wines from his property, a few from a second property (the Clos de l’Avenir) and a third set of wines from declassified fruit or “second” fruit from other vineyards around Vouvray - the Agle Blanc series (sort of his entry level group). Other wines you may see in the market from the 1990 vintage are the Prince Poniatowski Clos Baudoin (which is a dry wine akin to Vouvray sec), the Agle Blanc Moelleux and Vin de Tris which are variations on the theme from different parcels - all of these are moderately priced. Many of you have heard this story as the cellars of the Prince were raided this past year after one of the great treasure hunts of all time uncovered this stuff. To sum up the story, he has given up the winemaking rights to his land in his old age (but still owns it) and the 1990 is what I consider to be the true swansong vintage of dessert wine he produced. In 1990, the Clos Baudoin Moelleux was the best wine produced at the estate and many would argue one of the 4-5 finest wines ever produced from the Clos Baudoin. It is simply a massive, packed, stacked and mineral infused treat of botrytis-affected golden nuggets. The wine is a megalith waiting to unfold - an elegant beauty that lays in wait. The wine is really still a baby in its evolution - I would guess it has at least another 30 years of life ahead. Those of you that tasted the 1919 Huet that we served at Per Se a few years ago will know what I mean. While I’m not saying this is in that league, for this price - who cares? It is in the league of the top 1990 Quarts du Chaume with the exotic, crowd-swaying candy-coated terroir that has made this vintage one to swoon over from a dessert wine standpoint (but plagued the dry wines of the vintage as they couldn’t get enough acidity - see 2005 for a similar occurrence where the dessert wines may be the best of the lot). That being said, the wine we offer today is the special cuvee of “Le Clos Baudoin Moelleux” dessert wine (with 70-100+ grams residual), which is why this offer is so special - it’s like getting a 750ml of 1990 Prum GK Auslese or 1990 Baumard Quarts du Chaume for a bargain price. The point is, if you like the regular dry 1990 Clos Baudoin, you can imagine how incredible this wine is...what would be a pretty impressive gift for a wine aficionado, especially as they will never know you paid so little. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for insane value and reflection of 1990 vintage 1990 Clos Baudoin “Clos Baudoin Moelleux” Vouvray (sweet/Prince Poniatowski) 750ml Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Loire8720