RP
95
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2017 Clos de Tart Grand Cru is a little shut down after its recent bottling, but it is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet red berries, plums, wilted rose petals, peonies and dark chocolate, with only hints of the complexity to come with bottle age. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, supple and succulent, with an ample and enveloping core of fruit, powdery tannins and succulent acids, displaying good concentration and concluding with a long and perfumed finish. This is a fine showing for Clos de Tart, and despite its elegance, this 2017 will evidently reward bottle age. Reviewed by William Kelley. Issue date January 9, 2020. Drinking window: 2027-2050.
This was my first tasting with Alessandro Noli, the new régisseur of Clos de Tart. Noli previously superintended the Rhône's Château Grillet and before that worked at Domaine d'Eugenie in Vosne-Romanée. A new cuverie has been constructed and the cellars renovated, and it is clear that everything will change at this historic address—but more on that next year, as the wines I tased on this occasion had all been made by the previous régisseur, Jacques Desvauges, who is now installed next door at the Domaine des Lambrays. Desvauges harvested early in 2018 but nonetheless a few days after the Clos des Lambrays was picked, and the resulting wines are quite ripe, oaky and fruit-driven in style, nodding as much to the Sylvain Pitiot era at Clos de Tart as they do to Desvauges's 2017, 2016, or even 2015 vintages. Indeed, on the basis of this first encounter, the 2018 would rank as my least-favorite of Desvauges's four vintages here by some margin. But a definitive judgment will have to wait until the wine is in bottle next year, when I look forward to going into more detail about the changes at the estate, as well as tasting Noli's first wines.
V
97
Vinous
(Rating 96 - 98) The 2017 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was matured in around 80% new oak, the barrels toasted chauff blonde. Jacques Desvauges mentioned that the wine needed oxygen ingress during maturation that only new oak can give. I tasted the component parts (as usual) as well as the blend. This has a very detailed, delineated bouquet offering mainly black fruit mixed with sous-bois, tobacco, clove and bay leaf, the typicité of the appellation showing through nicely. It feels very succinct and yet so fresh. The palate is beautifully balanced on the entry with a killer line of acidity. Pure black cherry fruit is joined by bilberry, hints of black olive and a marine/oyster shell tincture that comes through quite strongly toward the persistent, saline finish, which fans out with confidence. This is a brilliant follow-up to the benchmark 2016 by Jacques Desvauges and his team. Reviewed by Neal Martin. Tasting date: November 2018. Drinking window: 2024-2050.