Vin Jaune's Grand Cru
2005 Macle Château-Chalon
"Yellow Wine" at its Most Elegant
and Ageworthy
Château Chalon is simply the pinnacle of Vin Jaune. And Macle's Château Chalons are the long and uncontested benchmarks of the appellation.
No other Vin Jaune is more elegantly mineral; none age as regally.
For me, there's no doubt that these are special wines. A mini-vertical tasting of Macle's 78, 79, 81 and 82 Château-Chalons a couple years ago strongly confirmed the wine's grandeur. These are simply unforgettable in their elegance and subtle depth.
No other Vin Jaune is more elegantly mineral; none age as regally.
For me, there's no doubt that these are special wines. A mini-vertical tasting of Macle's 78, 79, 81 and 82 Château-Chalons a couple years ago strongly confirmed the wine's grandeur. These are simply unforgettable in their elegance and subtle depth.
Macle'sChâteauChalon is one of the world's great, and most unique, wines.It can be challenging, for sure, but there's no denying the complexity or the finesse on display in the wines.
For Vin Jaune, Château Chalon is holy ground. It produces wines that compete with the best around. Curnonsky, the famous 20th century Parisian "Prince of Gastronomes" included the wines of Château-Chalon among "the five great white wines of France," along with Montrachet and Yquem.
Macle’s Château-Chalons show the mind-twisting spectrum of flavors that caused Curnonsky to include Château Chalon on his top five list: Marmalade, burnt orange, lemon pith, plums, mushrooms, celery, pine needles, moss, walnut, baking spices, and pure rocky minerality. Macle's ability to weave this nearly endless list of flavors into something of pristine elegance and harmony is absolutely extraordinary.
The recently released 2005 Vin Jaune promises to be one of the greats. The vintage produced concentrated and balanced wines - exactly what you want for a long-lived Château Chalon. If examples from other ripe vintages, like Macle's 1990 Château Chalon, are any indication, the 2005 may prove to be legendary.
Château Chalon is never cheap. The process is just too costly. (If you need a reminder about the process of making Vin Jaune, please check this out.) However, when you think about the fact that you're getting one of the world's greats and consider the ageability, the $95.95 tariff doesn't seem out of line at all. The 3-pack deal gets it down to $89.95.
For those of you not familiar with Vin Jaune, we must issue a strong endorsement, with a serious warning: Château-Chalon is one of the most compelling, amazing and bizarre vinous experiences on Earth. *However,* the broad, aggressive pungency of these wines can be like a slap in the face to the uninitiated palate.
Macle is one of the great traditionalists of the Jura. There seems to be no concern for following the whims of the market. No effort is made to make them more accessible or flashier. They remain as they've always been - standing proud with their stately elegance.
Check out the label, dead center - there, you find written: "Vin de Garde," meaning "wine to age." And in this case, they mean it - Macle's Château Chalons can be followed over a lifetime. They'll see their fiftieth birthday without any difficulty, and turning one hundred isn't out of the question.
As is often the case with wine's like Macle's, quantities are just too small. With only 4ha in the appellation and very low yields, normally in the 24hl/ha range, demand far overwhelms supply.
Please give us your maximum order and we will allocate as best we can. All orders subject to confirmation.
To order, please email us offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits