A lot of reduction on the nose, even with several hours of decanting, and that didn’t entirely dissipate over the meal and in the glass. That doesn’t offend me in a Northern Rhone, but it definitely dominates on the nose. (Ironic that this comes from a a winemaker who makes a bottling without sulfur. Or perhaps that explains the sans souffre bottling.) A little green note, too, on the nose – like freshly cut weed stalks or celery – but I kind of liked that.
In the mouth, this was quite ripe, with fairly lush, dark plum/black cherry fruit but good acidity to keep it together. Still fairly tannic.
91 points for me that night and it gave a lot of pleasure, but it was not off-the-charts great because of the reduction. This has some time ahead of it, to develop more tertiary notes and soften the tannin. The reduction definitely mandates a healthy decant.
I bought 6 of these in 2005…extremely low price, even for ‘back then’ due to high ullage. I was concerned when I saw the bottles, but took them anyways. Glad I did because they all showed very well (I drank them between 2006 and a couple of years ago).
None of them showed any reduction at all. Not sure if that was due/related to the ullage, or if I got good bottles. The tannins were all completely resolved as well. Other than that they were as you describe: fairly ripe, lush, plum/cherry, good but not great acidity and very pretty. Some herbal elements…herbal, rather than celery or stalky. It definitely showed the Allemand style, tho well on the ripe side. It didn’t seem to have suffered from whatever caused the ullage, except to accelerate the aging.
I bought a couple of 99 Reynard on release from KL. I opened one a few years ago which was still quite young and took a few hours to open up. Much more deep and savory than the Chaillots. Should have waited on opening it, but still enjoyed it a lot.
99 chaillots is one of the worst wines I’ve had for bottle variation. Bought a dozen from the wine society in the uk and returned 9.
Thanks for the data points, Eric and Leon.
There was certainly no mistaking the reduction. And I have a high tolerance for it, particularly in Northern Rhones.
Leon - What sort of variation did you experience? Reduction? Oxidation? VA? Brett? Just curious.