These two Chinons were drunk on successive days thus permitting easy comparison. It is interesting to note that producer style overtrumps terroir and even vintage differences. The Alliet comes from gravelly sand which is supposed to produce lightish fruity wines for early drinking while the Joguet comes from "silico-calcaire" -sandy-chalk- and "silico-argileux" -sandy-clay- (geologists - pukka translation please?) which are supposed to produce wines with more backbone for ageing. Likewise 1999 was supposedly the more easy-going vintage.
Chinon Vieilles Vignes 1999 - Philippe Alliet - Alc.12.5% was still quite darkly coloured and medium+ bodied with robust dense red fruit, minerals and good backbone but this bottle suffered from a barnyard component which tended to dominate the aromatic palette. I am far from an anti-brett fundamentalist but at this level it unbalanced the wine which was still pleasant to drink but much less subtle and charming than one opened a couple of years ago; 15/20.
Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos 2000 - Charles Joguet - Alc.12.5%. What a difference! The colour was more transparent with a little bricking. The nose was elegant and complex with notes of tangy red fruit and minerals with a dab of wet leather and a lovely fragrance. The palate was slightly lighter that the Alliet's but beautifully shaped with good length, gentle tannic support for the finish and elegantly complex, discreetly mineralised and fragrant fruit. The experts say that the mid-90s to the mid-00s were an off period at the Joguet estate but I have loved all the 96s which I have opened in the last 5 years or so and now this 00; 17/20.