Just a little darker than the 2000 villages Chambolle. The nose is deeper, but significantly tighter. In the mouth, instantly lacier and spicier with an immense step-up in complexity – high-toned fruits invade the back of the palate. Late tannin grab with a really impressive length – I’d buy this in a shot.

I’ve had two bottles of this wine from one source before, and on both occasions there’s been a rather muddy, indeed soupy aspect to the wine – disappointing would be a fair descriptor – particularly when factoring in the price. This wine, direct from the domain, is completely different. For a start it’s much fresher and does without the cooked plummy-fruit aspects of the previous wines. There’s not the purity and focus of the ’93 village Chambolle but neither is this an archetypal 1997 as it still offers good freshness. It’s nice, complex and shows some density. It’s an interesting and good wine, but possibly the weakest of all these wines, at least in terms how they all perform within their respective categories.

Medium ruby with just a little amber. The nose is relatively young showing with slightly baked fruit – not much complexity, though given time you do find a pure red cherry note pushing through. The palate is rich and dense with primary fruit, plenty of velvetty tannin and almost good acidity. No fireworks on the finish but there’s a subtle length. Good, but at this stage quite primary and not showing good value – we’ll see!