I bought a full case of this ‘en-primeur’ – frankly almost every bottle has disappointed due to an excess of sulfur;
Bottle one – undrinkable for 2 days due to strong bottle stink (1999), bottle 2 (2001) undrinkable as the sulfur never lifted – even after 2 days. Bottle 3 (2004) started stinky but slowly improved becoming almost good as did another bottle last year – here’s another try.
1996 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny
A soft and spongy cork. The colour is a medium-plus ruby red showing just a faint amber edge. The first note is a hard sulfur note and it takes quite some time to lift, slowly a quite striking violet note over soft red cherry comes through – quite a compelling impression. The palate starts quite short, but lengthens in tandem with the improvement in the nose. The tannin is still quite astringent and the overall impression is still a little harsh. The acidity is good and the nose eventually shines but this wine remains the Curate’s egg. If you want to drink now, decant or open a couple of hours before pouring.
Rebuy – No
I’ll give the 1999 a run for its money this week to see if I can say something nice about a Barthod – everyone else thinks they’re great!