"This
has very quickly become one of my favorite domaines in Volnay!"
2014 Beaune 1er Cru Les Teurons
The 2014 Beaune 1er cru Les Teurons from
Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is excellent. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a
superb blend of red and black cherries, cocoa, dark soil tones, woodsmoke and a
touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, fullbodied and nicely
focused, with a fine, sappy core, lovely soil signature and a long,
finelygrained finish. A really lovely example. 20202060. 92 points
2014 Volnay 1er Cru En Carelle
The domaine's vines in En Carelle are
planted northsouth, which served to shelter the bunches a bit during the hail
at the end of June and there was really quite moderate damage done here in
2014. The wine was raised in twenty percent new oak and these fiftyfive to
sixty yearold vines have produced and excellent wine in this vintage4. The
bouquet offers up scents of cherries, red plums, raw cocoa, gamebird, cedar and
a lovely topnote of spices. On the palate the wine is fullish, pure and
intensely flavored, with a velvety attack, a good core and a long,
suavelytannic finish. Just a lovely wine. 20212060. 92+ points
2014 Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Chapelle monopole
The domaine's flagship wine was hit a
bit harder by the hail on June 28th, so yields are again down very low for this
wine in 2014, but the wine was showing well at the time of my visit. The nose
wafts from the glass in a fine blend of cherries, red plums, currant leaf, a
very good base of soil, a touch of coffee and vanillin oak. On the palate the
wine is pure, fullbodied and more reserved in profile than the En Carelle,
with a good core and fine mineral drive on the long and moderately tannic
finish. This will need a bit more time to blossom and has ended up a touch
chewier than the En Carelle, due to the hail in Junethough there is no signs
of hail taint, just a bit more structure out of the blocks here. 20232065. 92+ points
2014 Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
The Taillepieds bottling from Clos de
la Chapelle was new in 2013. As readers may recall, this hails from a parcel of
forty to fifty yearold vines that lie between the rows of Domaines de Montille
and Marquis d'Angerville. The 2014 was another very short crop here, as they
only produced three casks, whereas in a normal crop, they should have nine! The
wine is superb in 2014, delivering a fine aromatic constellation of red
berries, red plums, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, gamebirds, pretty
spice notes and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is pure, fullbodied,
complex and shows good stuffing at the core, with fine focus and grip and a
moderately chewy finish. 20242060. 93
points
2014 Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins vieilles vignes
The eighty-five yearold vines here
have produced a very pretty and red fruity example of the vintage in 2014. The
bouquet jumps from the glass in a classy blend of cherries, quince, a touch of
blood orange, pigeon, woodsmoke and a gentle framing of cedar. On the palate
the wine is deep, fullbodied, complex and really very suave on the attack
(particularly for a young Pommard!), with a fine core of fruit, fine grained
tannins and a long, focused and tangy finish. This will be outstanding in the fullness
of time! 20222060. 94 points
2014 Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots
The 2014 Grands Epenots from Clos de la
Chapelle was bottled a bit later than most of the red wines in the cellar, with
the mise coming at the start of February of 2016. The wine was showing very
well at the time of my visit, offering up a pure and nascently complex nose of
red plums, cherries, woodsmoke, gamebird, cocoa, cedar and a superb base of
soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, fullbodied and very elegant in
profile, with a superb core of fruit, lovely soil signature and a very long,
ripely tannic and focused finish. A very high class example of this superb
terroir. 201242065+. 93+ points
2014 Corton Rognet Grand Cru
The Rognet in 2014 from Clos de la
Chapelle was raised in onethird new wood and included fifty percent whole
clusters this year. These vines lie just above those of JeanNicolas Méo on the
slope. The wine really shows the elegant side of the vintage, wafting from the
glass in a beautiful aromatic constellation of cherries, red currants, a superb
base of minerality, a bit of gamebird, lovely Corton spice tones and a bit of
new wood. On the palate the wine is pure, fullbodied and nascently complex,
with fine transparency, lovely focus and grip and a very long, ripely tannic
and tangy finish. There is a touch of stems here today, but these will become
cinnamonlike down the road and just add to the spicy appeal of this lovely
Corton. 20252075+.
94 points
2014 Corton Bressandes Grand Cru
The 2014 Bressandes here also included
fifty percent whole clusters and was raised in onethird new casks. The wine is
dynamite, soaring from the glass in a blaze of red and black cherries, red
currants, a touch of venison, coriander seed, a bit of bonfire, raw cocoa,
stony soil tones and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, fullbodied
and nascently complex, with a very sappy core of fruit, lovely transparency,
finegrained tannins and a very long, tangy and promising finish. Great juice
in the making. 20252075. 95 points
2014 Beaune 1er Cru Reversées
The 2014 Beaune "Reversées" Blanc from
Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is a good, solid example of the vintage. The
bouquet offers up nice complexity in its mélange of lemon, crab apple, citrus
peel, chalky soil tones and a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is
deep, fullish and nicely balanced, with crisp acids, fine focus and good length
and grip on the bouncy and wide open finish. A good example for relatively nearterm
drinking. 20162030. 89 points
2014 Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous Frétille
The 2014 Sous Frétilles from Clos de la
Chapelle is excellent and a fine new addition to the portfolio here. The nose
jumps from the glass in a pure and quite accessible blend of pear, lemon, white
flowers, chalky minerality and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep,
fullbodied, focused and juicy at the core, with fine focus and grip and a
long, zesty and quite delicious finish. This is not as structured an example of
Sous Frétilles as one finds for example at Domaine Rollin, but it is a very
tasty and classy bottle. 20162035+. 91
points
2014 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru
The 2014 CortonCharlemagne from Clos
de la Chapelle is a very fine bottle in the making. The deep and serious nose
offers up scents of apple, pear, a touch of iodine, lovely, chalky soil tones,
a touch of citrus peel and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, fullbodied,
complex and rock solid at the core, with lovely mineral drive, crisp acids and
excellent length and grip on the nascently complex finish. Fine juice in the
making. 20202045+. 93+ points
