Domaine du Clos de Tart is one of Burgundy’s unicorns. It is a monopole, meaning that the domaine owns the entire 18.6-acre Grand Cru Clos de Tart vineyard. It is one of only six grand cru monopoles in Burgundy. The estate was founded in 1141 by the Tart Abbey Bernardine nuns, a Cistercian order, and after the French Revolution it was acquired in 1791 by the Marey-Monge family. In 1932 the Mommessin family of Maconnais – long-time negociants -- purchased the estate. Though the domaine’s wines suffered a drop in prestige during the mid-20th century, in recent decades it has once again become known for its high quality. Legendary winemaker Sylvain Pitiot, who ran the estate for 20 years until his retirement in late 2014, is credited with much of the estate’s revival. Jacques Devauges is current winemaker. Burgundy authority Clive Coates has called Clos de Tart “today Clos de Tart has few peers, even among the great wines of Vosne and Gevrey….This is a first class estate producing one of the very best of Burgundy’s Grand Cru wines.” The estate also produces a Premier Cru.

2008 is known as a 'late' vintage, harvested at the beginning of October, unlike 2007, an early vintage which had been harvested at the beginning of September.

Indeed, further to a cold and humid summer, the biological cycle of the vine was delayed and we had to wait until 13th September to see the north wind settle down, bringing bright and dry weather necessary for the grapes to ripen fully.

These unusual climate conditions led us to apply specific farming methods in the whole vineyard. In order to favour aeration and to give maximum sunlight to the grapes, we manually thinned out the leaves twice: first, just after the flowering, and second during the green harvest, at the beginning of the véraison (change of colour of the grape berries).

Moreover, during the green harvest, we kept only the small sized grapes made of small berries, that are less susceptible to grey rot fungi attacks (Botrytis). This stringent work in the vineyard enabled us to crop perfectly healthy grapes needing very little sorting in the winery.

93 CellarTracker

Pronounced nose intensity with notes of red fruits, sour cherry, spices and toast. Feel that acidity is high side. So far, when drinking 2008 Burgundy, always feel that 2008 is not ready to drink for me as the acidity is unbalanced with the body. Tasted blind and drank along side 2008 Clos de Tart and obviously 2008 Clos de Tart have a higher score. 9/22/2023

93 Points

Served double blind. Clearly stemmy red Burgundy here (though in hindsight I'm not sure stems go into this at all). Quite chewy, rustic tannins on the back end, coupled with bright and youthful red fruit had me thinking this was a nice 2014 Pommard or Volnay, perhaps along the lines of Bouley. 2/20/2023