"If you have not yet made the acquaintance of the
wines from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle, make every effort to search out any of
these superb 2015s, as this is one of the most exciting domaines in all of the
Côte de Beaune today!"
2015 Beaune 1er Cru Champs Pimont
2015 is the first vintage of
Champs Pimont produced from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle, despite the parcel
having been purchased in 2011! The domaine now owns .63 hectares of nearly
fifty year-old vines in this fine premier cru vineyard, which lies mid-slope,
just south of les Teurons and les Cras. The domaine's 2015 Champs Pimont is a
ripe and quite pure wine, offering up a
sappy nose of plums, black cherries, chocolate, iron-flecked dark soil tones,
woodsmoke and a touch of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep,
full-bodied and plush at the core, with good soil signature, suave, moderate
tannins and very good length and grip on the ripe and nascently complex finish.
This is a classic, broad-shouldered 2015 that probably comes in close to
fourteen percent octane and will give pleasure early, but should also age very
nicely. It is the ripest of the range of
2015s from the domaine, but shows no signs of sur maturité and is impressively pure and voluptuous in style.
2020-2050. 90.
2015 Beaune 1er Cru Les Teurons
The Beaune "Teurons" bottling
was new from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle in the 2014 vintage, and their second
effort from this vineyard is excellent. The team here farms a quarter hectare
of sixty year-old vines in Teurons, which has more limestone in its clay than
in the neighboring
Champs Pimont. There were two barrels of Teurons this year in the cellars, with
one of them new. The bouquet of the 2015 Teurons is pure and more refined in
profile than the Champs Pimont, wafting from the glass in a blend of cherries,
plums, cocoa powder, a beautiful base of soil, a touch of gamebird and a
discreet framing of new wood. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and
shows off lovely mid-palate depth, with ripe tannins, good acids and fine focus
and grip on the nascently complex and very classy finish. I love the synthesis
here of the elegant style of the domaine and the plush character of the
vintage. 2022-2055. 91+.
2015 Volnay 1er Cru En Carelle
The domaine's vines in en
Carelle range from these fifty-five to sixty years of age, and as I mentioned
last year, they are planted north-south, rather than the customary east-west.
The 2014 here turned out really well, particularly considering the hail that hit
this vineyard, but the 2015 version is even a small step up in quality and
really an exceptional young Volnay. The nose is deep, pure and very classy,
offering up scents of red plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, incipient pigeon, woodsmoke, complex soil tones
and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is pure, complex and full-bodied, with
great velvety elegance on the attack, a sappy core, fine- grained tannins and
excellent focus and grip on the very long and well-balanced finish. This tastes
as if it were picked ahead of the two Beaune premier crus and at the peak of
perfect ripeness. 2023-2060. 93.
2015 Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la
Chapelle
The domaine's flagship wine,
the 2015 Clos de la Chapelle monopole is
absolutely superb, with a complex nose of cherries, plums, woodsmoke, raw
cocoa, a complex base of dark soil tones, hints of cinnamon to come, cedar and
a nice touch of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is
deep, full-bodied, suave and nicely reserved in personality, with a superb core
of fruit, outstanding soil inflection, ripe, seamless tannins and lovely grip
and length on the tangy, focused and nascently complex finish. This will need a
few years longer in the cellar than the very good En Carelle, but it will be
the better wine in the fullness of time. The vines here are fifty-five years of
age and the 2015 version was raised in twenty percent new oak. This has been a
great addition to the top bottlings in Volnay since its inaugural vintage of
2010, but the 2015 Clos de la Chapelle is clearly the finest vintage yet since
Mark O'Connell resuscitated this domaine a half dozen years ago. Toute en finesse and superb Volnay!
2025- 2065+. 94.
2015 Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
As readers may recall, the
Taillepieds here debuted in 2013, with the vines in this .47 hectare parcel
averaging sixty-five years of age and lying between the rows of Domaines de
Montille and Marquis d'Angerville. The 2015 Taillepieds is excellent and very
pure in personality, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a youthful
blend of black cherries, cassis, incipient gamebird, lovely minerality,
woodsmoke, a nice touch of stems and a very stylish base of lead pencilly new
oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and superbly balanced, with a
rock solid core of fruit, great soil signature, firm, fine-grained tannins,
good acids and outstanding focus and grip on the long, complex and very, very
promising finish. This may well prove to be the very finest expression of
Taillepieds produced in Burgundy in 2015! 2025-2075. 94+.
2015 Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins
Chanlins is one of my favorite vineyards in Pommard, as both
the premier cru and villages sections of the vineyard produce very elegant
interpretations of Pommard. The eighty- six year-old vines here have really
excelled in 2015, with the wine offering a great combination of sappy red
fruit, superb transparency and a very elegant structural chassis- particularly
for young Pommard! The bouquet is nicely reserved, but also deep and sappy,
offering up scents of red plums, cherries, gamebird, a touch of nutskin,
violets, a marvelous base of soil, just a hint of mustard seed, cedar and raw
cocoa. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and sappy at the core, but
also very nicely reserved in profile out of the blocks and built for the long
haul. The tannins here are ripe, fine-grained and beautifully integrated, with
good acids, excellent focus and a very, very long, perfectly balanced finish
giving this wine superb potential. This is every bit as refined in personality
as the top Volnays here this year! 2025-2075.
94.
2015 Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Epenots
The Grands Epenots bottling from
Clos de la Chapelle hails from just under a quarter hectare of vines in this
superb premier cru, with the vines here amongst the youngest the domaine farms,
with the vineyards now twenty-five years of age. The 2015 Grands Epenots is
another absolutely outstanding example of the vintage from Clos de la Chapelle,
offering up great purity to go along with perfectly ripe fruit and exceptional
expression of terroir. The bouquet
wafts from the glass in a fine constellation of sappy red and black cherries,
gamebird, dark chocolate, superb soil tones, fresh thyme, an exotic touch of
lavender, a bit of bonfire and a discreet framing of new oak. On the palate the
wine is a bit more reserved than the Chanlins, but also a very elegant interpretation of this vineyard,
with its full-bodied format offering a superb core, lovely soil
signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and outstanding length and grip on the
nascently complex finish. This will need a few more years than the Chanlins to
start to stir, but it will be every bit as marvelous at its apogee. 2028-2075. 94.
2015 Corton Rognet Grand Cru
The 2015 Corton "Rognet" from Clos
de la Chapelle is outstanding, offering up great purity to go with the depth,
power and aging potential of the very best 2015s. Readers may recall that these
fifty year-old vines lie just above those of Jean-Nicolas Méo on the slope in
the heart of this lieu à dit, which lies alongside of Bressandes and Renardes. As
deep as all of the top premier crus were here in 2015, there is an extra
element of profundity evident in the Rognet, but one will have to be patient to
enjoy this wine at its zenith. The very promising bouquet offers up scents of black
cherries, dark berries, roasted venison, dark chocolate, a superb base of soil,
woodsmoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tangy,
with a rock solid core, impressive transparency, firm, ripe tannins, excellent
focus and grip and a very long, poised and youthfully complex finish. This is
going to be a long-distance runner par
excellent, but once it is ready to drink, it is going to be pure magic.
2028-2100. 94.
2015 Corton Bressandes Grand Cru
The Bressandes
from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle hails a twenty ares parcel of forty- five year-old vines. The 2015 Bressandes here
is exceptional, offering up a deep, pure and nicely reserved bouquet
of dark berries, black cherries, bitter chocolate, gamebird, a beautifully
refined base of soil tones, woodsmoke, a touch of fresh nutmeg, hints of
coriander seed and a deft framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is pure,
full-bodied and shows off stunning mid- palate depth, with great purity to the
perfectly ripe fruit, suave, fine-grained tannins, good acids and outstanding
focus and grip on the very, very long, youthfully complex and beautifully
balanced finish. This will be a great, great wine in the fullness of time.
2027-2100. 95+.
2015 Beaune 1er Cru Les Reversées
The 2015 Beaune "Reversées"
Blanc from Clos de la Chapelle is a lovely example of the vintage, with all of
the early perfume and generous fruit one finds in the best white Burgundies
from this vintage. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a mélange of pear,
peach, spring flowers, a bit of butter, almond, chalky soil and vanillin oak.
On the palate the wine is plush, full-bodied and succulent, with a good core,
sound framing acids and a long, ripe and wide open finish. This is listed at
133.5 percent, but seems just a hint riper than this level and will be tastiest
during the next four or five years. Good juice. 2017-2025. 89.
2015 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous Frétille
The 2015 Sous Frétilles from
Clos de la Chapelle is a ripe, nicely balanced and flat out delicious bottle of
white Burgundy, offering up a deep and juicy nose of pear, acacia blossoms,
fresh almond, a touch of tangerine, chalky soil and vanillin oak. On the palate
the wine is deep, full-bodied, bright and wide open in personality, with a
lovely core, fine focus and grip, very good framing acids and a long, succulent
and classy finish. I do not think this will make old bones, but for drinking
over the next five years, it will be superb. 2017-2022. 91+.
2015 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru
Having vines on the Pernand
side of the hill of Corton must have been an advantage in the hot summer of 2015, and the Clos de la
Chapelle version in this vintage has turned out beautifully as a result. This
is 13.5 percent alcohol in 2015 (all natural) and the wine is impeccably
balanced and drinking with loads of personality out of the blocks. The superb
bouquet wafts from the glass in a classic blend of pear, apple, a touch of
iodine, stony soil tones, spring flowers, hazelnuts and vanillin oak. On the
palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely broad-shouldered in style, with
excellent concentration at the core, fine soil signature, bright acids and impressive
length and grip on the nascently complex and perfectly balanced finish. This is
very delicious in its wide open youth, but really could do with at least a
couple of years in the cellar to allow its secondary layers of complexity to
start to emerge. 2024-2030+. 93+.
