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A little bit of geography

Clos de Tart is an integrated 7.53 hectare vineyard in Morey-Saint-Denis in Côte de Nuits. This rectangle-shaped parcel (300 m long and 250 m wide) lies on a slope in the altitude of 269 to 302 meters. The whole winery is fenced by 1.2 km long stone fence. It is called “Clos” thanks to this fence. Great advantage of this estate is its south-east orientation. Loam-limestone soil consists of different types of limestone. Therefore is the plot divided into six microclimate zones. Grapes from every zone are harvested separately as if they were separate appellation. Because of massive erosion of soil is vine of Clos de Tart planted in north-south orientation in contrast with majority of vineyards in Burgundy. On average are the vines 60 years old. But some plants are over 100 years. Old plants are being replaced by grafts from own nursery. They are strictly autochthonous clones.

Winery

Since the establishment until 1924 the original vine press was used during every vintage. You can see this antiquarian press in one of the buildings. In 1999 they modernized Clos de Tart. So today is used the most modern technology. In the vineyards they work organically. They avoid using chemicals and all work is done manually or by horses. Wine matures in barrels in a room. Capacity of this room is 150 barrels. However, they use less than hundred barrels a year on average. The cellar comes from the year 1850. It has two levels and the lower one is 10 meters under the ground. It rates among the most breathtaking ones in Burgundy. Wine is bottled manually by gravity without pumping or filtration.

Wine

Clos de Tart has two kinds of wines. Besides the famous Clos de Tart Grand Cru Monopole, they produce also La Forge de Tart Premier Cru. Clos de Tart Grand Cru Monopole is a grandiose wine. According to its producer it combines strength of Chambertin and elegance of Musigny. La Forge de Tart is the other wine of Clos de Tart. It undergoes the same process as its big brother. The only difference is that it is made of grapes of vine younger than 25 years. This wine is not that structured and it is ready to consume sooner.

Wine tasting

Not long ago, I had possibility to taste a few wines from Clos de Tart with Sylvain Pitiont himself, the winemaker and manager of Clos de Tart. Besides classic traits Morey-Saint-Denis, I will try to describe wines we tasted in order we tasted them: La Forge de Tart 2008 – clear ruby colour, fruity fresh scent, medium body La Forge de Tart 2001 – classic forest fruits, amazing almost perfume-like scents, silky Clos de Tart 2007 – quite mineral, black ripe fruits, significant new barrel Clos de Tart 2008 – nice, elegant, with a big potential, still too young Clos de Tart 2002 – nice sample, exciting fruit tones, too little acidity in my opinion, ready to consume Clos de Tart 1999 – strong animal character from the beginning, it opened up later, beautiful texture Clos de Tart 2003 – surprisingly, it had character of syrah from Chateauneuf-du-Pape The main difference between wines Clos de Tart Grand Cru and La Forge de Tart was in their potential of maturing. La Forge de Tart is really a wine that one can drink sooner and does not show that excellent finesses like its big brother. Clos de Tart Grand Cru is rightly one of the most valued wines in Burgundy. I have to mention it is one of the most expensive ones, too. The tasting was a good experience and a big event.

Text a fotografie: Dodi Fodor