Mid-week "cho-boh" (do nothing in local Hokkien slang) wine tasting + sampling session with two bottles of Chambolle-Musigny from the lovely and down-to-earth Anne et Hervé Sigaut, whom I first met when they were in New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Truth be told, I haven't tasted these for a few years now since their initial commercial release so it was pretty interesting to look at them with fresh eyes, renewed palate and minimal expectations.
The two plots we are examining here (Les Chatelots & Les Noirots) are quite near to one another and given that they were both made by the same folks and shared the same vintage, the style of winemaking and the essence of the individual terroir truly shined. There are as many similarities between these two wines, as they are differences that provided a sense of individuality to each cuvée.
Both wines shared an almost identical bright deep ruby-cranberry-red core with a prominent nose of chinese liquorice roots, sweet braised azuki red beans, fresh mandarin peel and an uncannily similar mouthfeel, minerality, acidity and finish that I surmised to be tied to the winery's stylistic approach and what they do in the vineyards.
The Les Noirots was the more "feminine" of the two. This was surprising as I wasn't expecting the Les Chatelots to be so muscular, brooding and dark (in relative terms, of course). There were bursts of floral, ripe red fruits, vanilla-scented cream and sour plum notes on the Les Noirots with a matching profile on the palate that's slightly tart and sour cherry-ish.
I could almost feel the earthiness on the Les Chatelots with its deep dark cherry, prune and mocha flavours. Perhaps even a little stemmy (read: herbaceous) with overtones of oak that's better integrated now. I did find the wine a little warm - as I was tasting both wines I couldn't help but wondered if they may have picked the grapes a little later for this plot? Anyway, I tasted both of them again today, typing this as I sip on the remnants of the bottles - they are much gentler now, and more Chambolle-like in some ways. Interestingly enough, perhaps also disturbingly so, these two buggers seemed to have swapped their "gender".
The Les Noirots is now THE man, not the lady.
Damn.
