2011 Chateau Chalon

About to be bottled when I tasted it, the 2011 Château Chalon has a smoky, flinty, whisky-like character that is subtle and elegant. 2011 was a cool year with good weather during the harvest, delivering healthy grapes and a good crop that produced quality and quantity. Macle compared it with 2008, a year with good acidity, but 2011 is probably a bit rounder. The wine comes through as balanced and mineral. A second barrel had a stronger yeast character, with more aromas of bread dough, a little peaty and a little more powerful on the palate. This should make a great bottle of Château Chalon; it's quite classic and has a long life ahead of it in bottle. There are 8,000 bottles of this, bottled in two different lots.