Velvet wines with underground soul
Is Chambolle the red village of the vintage? It does seem to have produced a set of wines that in our tastings at least equalled anything from elsewhere and often excelled. The Pinots were ripe but beautifully balanced with perfect alcohol levels that barely needed chaptalisation, offering textured and perfumed wines of considerable distinction.
This doesn't just apply to village natives like Barthod and Bertheau, but across the board growers from other villages offered svelte and charming Chambolles. These are aerial wines but with their feet on the ground; they have bright fruit and plenty of terroir. Apart from the established stars, Gilbert et Christine Felettig and Anne et Herve Sigaut continue their progress with suites of delightful wines. Though if you can't afford Amoureuses, try Jaqcues-Frederic Mugnier's Marèchale: as Neal Martin says, 'then this will certainly suffice'.
If Clos Vougeot is one of the most famous vineyards in Burgundy, then Vougeot the village must be one of the most forgotten hamlets on the D974. But while it has just a quarter of the population of Fixin, it glories in a fabulous flagship grower in Hudelot-Noellat. Vougeot is an enclave almost surrounded by Chambolle to the north and Vosne-Romanée to the south, and most of the terroirs that Charles van Canneyt of Hudelot-Noellat cultivates have a Chambolle-like delicacy, even if they are in Vosne. /CW
Offered subject to remaining unsold for shipment 2016/17
