2013 Clos de Tart

The 2013 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was picked from October 8. I prefer the bouquet to that of the more confit-like 2014; this is very fresh and vivacious, offering black cherries mixed with blueberry and light violet aromas, the mineral component more expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit on the entry, tinged with graphite. Shows good weight but tightens up toward the back end, suggesting that it may close down. Quite saline on the finish. Give it 7–8 years in bottle. Tasted at Clos de Tart.

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Clos de Tart Grand Cru has a well defined bouquet with fine mineralité, very pure and poised with gorgeous ripe black cherries, strawberry and almost flint-like scents. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, missing a little delineation on the entry but with good structure. There is plenty of ripe sappy red fruit here with firm tannins, linear at present but showing impressive breeding. A vin de garde that will require several years in bottle before it really struts its stuff. Tasted September 2016.

Dark red with ruby highlights. Cool aromas of blackberry, black cherry, licorice, wild herbs, woodsmoke and black pepper. Sappy and fine-grained, showing piquant peppery lift to the dark fruit, spice, mineral and mint flavors. Less sweet than the 2014 but with captivating freshness and aromatic lift in the middle palate. Very young, weightless wine with a serious tannic spine and superb incipient complexity.