The label says “Shipped by Francois Martenot” but is otherwise identical to the Henry de Villamont shipped bottles that I’ve seen, making me think that there is some relationship between the two. The aroma, at first, is quite pleasing. Still showing red fruit and nothing offputting, with all elements in balance. But underneath a long, deep inhale reveals a harsh streak and some musty, rot notes. On the palate, there is no fruit and the wine is completely dominated by its acidity. The final verdict is that while this isn’t dead and is still very much wine, it simply isn’t a very good one. I imagine that this lacked fruit on release and it remains out of balance to this day. A problem with the winemaker? The vintage? I can’t be certain. But if you were holding on to your remaining '54 chambolles, I would say its time to pop one open as I’m not sure they will improve.
Thanks,
A
Yup, Alex…the ones I had (way back in the mid-'70’s) were all from Martenot. I’ve long since drunk all my Barolets.
As I recall, that Barolet stuff that came onto the market was mostly from fairly miserable vintages. I tried some 15-20 different Barolets.
They were, by & large, interesting intellectual experiences, remarkable how good they were for being so old and from poor vintages,
but none of them were life-changing experiences.
Tom