There’s certainly a similar style to this wine as the Giroud Clos de Vougeot. More closed on the nose but with a significantly longer finish. The fruit – and there’s still plenty – has a bitter-sweet edge and slightly dry tannin is still to found in the background. Overall it’s a shade less friendly than the Clos de Vougeot but again works wonderfully well with food.
Medium-plus garnet, very little fading. The nose is sweet and meaty with a little ash and dried red fruits – more oak than I remember from the last outing. Muscle without fat, some grain to the tannin but melded to lovely ’96 acidity and again some earthy ash. Intense fruit and a lovely, slowly decaying finish. It might not be top-drawer, but it’s a very worthy Grand Cru.
Medium-plus cherry-red. Some depth to the fruit on the nose and a low-key meaty note – surprising for such a juvenile. Intense cherry cordial on the palate with balanced acidity and tannins that show just a little rasp at the end.. A one-dimensional but long finish. Very easy to drink and given the balance and intensity you could lose this in the cellar for 10 years – no problem.
The slightly cooked nose of the Clos de la Roche is turned up a notch on this Charmes, together with very dusty/powdery red fruit that makes the nose slightly unattractive for my taste. The colour is medium-plus ruby. On the palate the wine seems not that well integrated, deep red fruit, and forward, velvetty tannins that show a bitter edge. The last quarter of the bottle was vacuvined and left overnight – subsequently showing a little more balance and intense red fruit, but this time the acidity seems too forward. A wine that doesn’t find the right balance and isn’t in the same league as the superb 1999.
Deep cherry red colour. Wow! the nose is a rather fine, pronounced and concentrated cherry cordial, perhaps just a little cream too. Really good concentration with fresh, well balanced acidity and very smooth and well covered tannins. The finish is just a little tart but with pretty good length. Super aromatics here – normally I buy Castagnier’s Clos de la Roche, but it seems that I also need space for the Charmes from 1999!
Just a little deeper coloured than the des Varoilles Gevrey 1er. There’s a little toasty oak but this is very well done as despite the young age, it already provides a good cocoa topping to the dark cherry fruit. The palate without showing great weight manages to produce an intense young fruit profile with well balanced acidity and buried tannins. Starting to close up a little but a wine worth following.
Deep ruby – no sign of age. Bright blueberry and black cherry nose trailing off with a hint of coffee. The palate has good fat and acidity. Nice black fruit with slightly grainy, medium-density tannins. Very good length too – BUT – there seems no ‘involvement’ with this wine and it seems flat. I suspect the insidious entry of low level taint – you can’t tell that it’s corked and unfortunately there is no back-up bottle for reference. This was drunk following Méo-Camuzet’s Bourgogne – and all four people drinking preferred the Bourgogne despite the obviously better underlying material of this wine. Not cooked – must be tainted – a shame.
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