The wine is Chateau Chalon (Vin Jaune) 1970, Reserve Catherine de Rye,Henri Maire. I bought it at auction many years ago in the US and it came via the UK where it was imported in bottle by Morgan Furze. There were no cork issues and the fill was high. It comes in a traditional 63 cl bottle, and the bottle has a rather unique short and fat shape, not unlike some wood aged port bottles I have seen in the past.
Some compare Chateau Chalon to a very dry Sherry, and I can see why. However to me this wine is somewhere between a very dry Sherry and a very dry Madeira in bouquet. The bouquet is extremely intense. The wine seems to be extremely dry with nearly no residual sugar. There is enough acid, but at least at this old age it is not harsh. The finish is quite long. The wine does not seem to be nearly as alcoholic as most Sherry. The front label gives no alcohol content. A back label, put on by the US importer, says 12%, but I do no know that this is correct as the back label also says the content is 750 ml in contrast to the 63 cl on the front label, which is the correct size for this bottle. Anyway, the wine has a much cooler feel in the mouth than does most dry sherry. The taste is quite intense and has very dry Sherry and Madeira notes, with some citrus ans nutty character. This is a very unique wine with a powerful character that some will like and others will hate. As for food matches, it likely would work for food that matches very dry Sherry, but it could stand up to much stronger food tastes than does most Sherry. It likely would not be a good match for dishes with a more delicate taste. I find it good with roasted and salted Spanish almonds.