The glorious Tissot Château-Chalon Vin Jaune 2009

Domaine Tissot Château-Chalon Vin Jaune 2009

Now here is a wine that deserves it’s reputation. I’d put it up against the fine wines of the world, sitting alongside the greatest Burgundy, the most luscious Trockenbeerenauslese, the richest Grand Muscat.

The magic here, for mine, is rooted in complexity. This is a drink that smells and tastes plainly odd; a massive leap from the fruit-juice-masquerading-as-wine style that is our normal wine diet and into something gloriously secondary.

And delicious.

Importantly, this Tissot Vin Jaune is ultra pure. The tang of flor is omnipresent after six years in barrel, but there is no VA or mousiness in sight. Instead, it’s fresh, the acidity high, yet offset by hints of honey from grapes picked ripe and concentrated in barrel. As ever, there is an almost salty tang here that is mouthwatering and life-enhancing, but there is still an obvious link to grapes in there too, the whiffs of white flowers and beeswax a reminder of the intensity of the Savagnin juice at the core.

Yes, this is a weird wine. Flor-aged, oxygen-shaped, ‘what is it?’ things like this are anything but easy. Yet every sip gives an extra flavour, every whiff something different. As a wine, it’s a masterpiece, the finish something that lasted with me long after any liquid was gone.

Frankly stunning.

Best drinking: 2017-2040+. 15%, $180ish. 19/20, 96/100. Would I buy it? If I could afford to, I would.