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Clos de Tart, Mommessin 1999

RegionBurgundy
Subregion France > Burgundy > Côte de Nuits > Morey-Saint-Denis
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyPinot Noir

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Tasting Notes

Tasted at the pre-dinner vertical to mark Sylvain Pitiot's retirement from the domaine, the 1999 Clos de Tart Grand Cru is certainly the best vintage until the 2002, although I prefer the later vintage, which has a little more elegance and precision. Still, the nose here is not too shabby with gorgeous red plum and bergamot scents, dried rose petals and cold stone scents. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, strict tannin. The fruit is edging away from this 1999 and being substituted with attractive black pepper, bay leaf and Earl Grey tea notes. What remains is the weight and presence of this Clos de Tart that lingers wonderfully in the mouth. This might be considered as Pitiot's first, but not last success at the estate. Tasted September 2015.

93
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (221), October 2015

The oak that sat atop the fruit for so long has now almost completely integrated, allowing the relatively
fresh aromas of black cherry, violets and earth hints to have center stage. The supple yet detailed middle weight plus flavors
are attractively vibrant and restrained while culminating in a moderately austere finish where the mouth coating tannins are still
noticeably firm and ever so slightly dry. This needs a few years to sort itself out as it seemed unduly awkward. Note: I was
surprised to see the slightly dry tannins as it's not a characteristic of the vintage though they did not seem like wood tannins
either. The good news is that there is ample extract, which should in the end allow this to age gracefully but all the same, in a
cautionary move, I am downgrading my initial rating slightly. 90/2015+

90
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (37), January 2010

The 1999 Clos de Tart is certainly outstanding and potentially exceptional. It displays a gorgeous nose of rich plums, sweet black cherries, candied blueberries, and loads of spices. Medium to full-bodied and opulent, this is a lush, deep, and fresh wine. Its velvety-textured flavor profile is crammed with blueberries, red cherries, and blackberries that seem to burst in the mouth, revealing their sweet, refreshing juices, in a way not dissimilar to the finest 1996s. It also displays complex nuances of spices, oak, and hints of orange zest. This marvelous wine should be at its peak of maturity between 2005 and 2012. Bravo!Sylvain Pithiot, who is responsible (with his father-in-law, Pierre Poupon) for the exceptional topographical maps of Burgundy's vineyards, is also the director and winemaker at this fine estate. He characterizes 1999 as "a great year, a dream year, one I'd have to place along with 1990 and 1996." He went on to explain that the estate's philosophy in recent years has been to have five bunches per vine, which generally translates to 30 hectoliters per hectare. Yet, in 1999, "the weather was so extraordinary, we left six bunches, which resulted in 42 hectoliter per hectare yields. In 2000, we returned to our five bunch per vine practice and harvested 31 hectoliters per hectare."

93/95
Pierre-Antoine Rovani, Wine Advocate (136), August 2001

Obvious oak notes frame knockout aromas of wonderfully intense black cherry fruit loaded with cassis and a touch of new oak introduce medium-bodied, sweet, harmonious and long flavors all underpinned by racy minerality. The tannins are firm and the density of extract impressive and the length incredible. This should be very long-lived indeed.

92
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, June 2002
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.