TN: M.Chapoutier Chante Alouette Hermitage Blanc 2012

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

This is 100% Marsanne. It's the second of two bottles opened in the last couple of weeks, with the first one being oxidised and which fell over after about 20-30 minutes. This is much better (and lighter in colour - a yellow gold).

Developed nose with honey, honeysuckle, stone fruits (peach bordering on apricot), beeswax, and a little toast on the nose. The palate is fuller, with more of the honeysuckle, toast, and almond towards the back palate. Acid is still keeping the wine relatively fresh, and the finish is quite long, and slightly astringent.

I suspect this might have been better a couple of years ago, but it still has interest and drinkability now. Would be even better with food. Drink up!

Cheers
Allan

[mychurch]

I’ve drank a few very old versions of this Allan - a 78 in 2017 was a stunning example of liquid stones. Robert Parker always said that these wines go through a difficult phase and then come back to life later. Not sure if this really happened, or it was due to cork variances. Love these wines though and maybe it is worth putting a bottle away for another 10 years as an experiment.

[Mahmoud Ali]

The 1985 Chante Aloutte, when it was only a few years old, was a stunning wine, the best white I had ever tasted and remains one of my most memorable whites.

[Tucker Wine Studios]

Had the 2012 and the 2007 vintages within the last two years (bought from DM), enjoyed both very much, stunning power and concentration. You can drink them young or old, depends on how much maturity you like (or can tolerate) in your wines. Wished this wine would be more widely available in Aus.