John Gilman 2015
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"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!"
Wines

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 Blanc: Lovely white Burgundy with early perfume and generous fruit. Pear, peach, spring flowers, butter, almond, chalky soil, and vanillin oak. Plush, full-bodied, succulent, with a good core, sound acids, and a ripe, wide open finish. Delicious and tastiest in the next 4-5 years. 2017-2025. Rated 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+.