"The Beautiful 2018 Vintage
From the Côte de Beaune Superstar Domaine Clos de la Chapelle." - John Gilman
"The
2018 vintage has turned out beautifully at Domaine Clos de la Chapelle, and if
you are yet to really discover these wines, this would be a very good vintage
to get started, as time is a wasting and one day, they are going to be has hard
to find as some of the long-established, "big names" of the Côte d'Or."
Vins Rouges
2018 Beaune 1er cru "Champs Pimont"
The vines
in Champs Pimont were the last to be harvested by the team at Clos de la Chapelle,
as the harvesters cleared this parcel on September 1st
of 2018. The wine offers up a bright and
sappy bouquet of red and black cherries, a bit of chocolate, spit-roasted pigeon, woodsmoke,
a lovely base of soil, discreet new wood shading, spices and a delicate
balsamic overtone
in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock
solid at the core, with
fine focus and balance, ripe, buried tannins and excellent length and grip on
the nascently
complex finish. This is a bit broader-shouldered than the fine 2017 version,
but it has fine backend sappiness and is very well-made and will drink well for
many decades to come. But, give
it some time in the cellar to let its tannins soften up a bit. 2028-2055+. 90 pts.
2018 Beaune 1er cru "les Teurons"
The 2018
Teurons from Mark O'Connell and his team at Clos de la Chapelle is a beautiful
wine, with its one day earlier picking seemingly giving it just a touch more
precision and purity
than the Champs Pimont (that is how fast the sugars were climbing at the outset
of September
of 2018). The bouquet is precise and really pretty, wafting from the glass in a
blend of sweet
dark berries, black cherries, raw cocoa, dark soil tones, woodsmoke, gamebird
and a deft touch
of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and sappy
at the core, with
superb soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins, sound acids and outstanding
focus and grip
on the long, suave and complex finish. This is a simply stellar bottle of young
Beaune! 2028-2060. 92+ pts.
2018 Volnay 1er cru "en Carelle"
These nice
old, sixty year-old vines have done very nicely in the torrid summer of 2018. The wine
offers up beautiful depth and purity on the nose, wafting from the glass in a
complex blend of
black cherries, plums, bitter chocolate, a gorgeous base of soil, gamebird, a
hint of lavender,
discreet vanillin oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, pure
and full, with
a superb core of ripe fruit, good soil undertow, ripe tannins and a long,
complex and very
nicely balanced finish. This is the sole Volnay in the domaine's lineup where
one can sense the ripeness of the vintage a bit on the backend (though not at
all on the nose), but the wine never loses its fine sense of balance. It comes
in listed at 13.5 percent and I would guess that it is probably
just a touch higher. That said, it is still an excellent wine. 2026-2055+. 91 pts
2018 Volnay 1er cru "Clos de la Chapelle" monopole
Ten years
ago, I thought my cosmology of Volnay vineyards was pretty well-established, but a
decade of this domaine's monopole bottling
of the premier cru of Clos de la Chapelle has certainly
given it a place on my summit of Volnay's Mount Olympus! The 2018 Clos de la Chapelle
is an absolutely beautiful wine and perhaps the finest yet from the estate, as
it delivers a stellar
aromatic constellation of black plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, a gentle
touch of meatiness,
a complex base of soil, woodsmoke, fresh nutmeg, hints of the black truffles to
come, crushed
violets and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and nicely plush
at the core, with
a full-bodied and impeccably balanced format, with fine-grained tannins, superb
focus and grip
and a long, complex and vibrant finish. This is a supremely elegant example of
a sappy and
soil-driven 2018 and flat out great juice! 2028-2065+. 94 pts.
2018 Volnay 1er cru "Taillepieds"
The
Domaine Clos de la Chapelle farms a small parcel of sixty-five year-old vines
in Taillepieds,
lying between those of Domaines de Montille and Marquis d'Angerville. Their
2018 Taillepieds
is an exhilarating example of this great terroir,
offering up a pure, youthful and bottomless
bouquet of black cherries, purple berries, raw cocoa, black tea, a gorgeous
expression of soil,
smoked duck, discreet floral tones and a suave base of new oak. On the palate
the wine is very deep,
full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a stunning synthesis of sappy
black fruit and
mineral drive, ripe, buried tannins and a very long, pure and very promising
finish. This is a
proper example of Taillepieds and will need plenty of time in the cellar, but
it is going to be absolutely
brilliant once it is ready to drink! 2033-2090. 93+ pts.
2018 Pommard 1er cru " Les Chanlins" Vieilles Vignes
The
domaine's parcel of vines in Chanlins are closing in on their ninetieth
birthday now, and these
old vines have delivered a superb premier cru in 2018. The bouquet is pure and precise,
wafting from the glass in a refined blend of red plums, cherries, pigeon, a very complex base of
soil tones, a hint of nutmeg (from the whole clusters), gentle herb tones,
woodsmoke and a discreet
foundation of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and sappy at
the core, with
great soil undertow, fine-grained tannins and impeccable focus and grip on the
long, very
well-balanced and oh, so promising finish. This comes in listed at 13.5 percent
and is a properly-structured
young Pommard, but with the Chanlins vineyard's inherent elegance already very much on
display. All it needs is some time alone in the cellar to properly blossom! The Volnays
here are always the slightly flashier wines out of the blocks, but make no
mistake, this is a
brilliant wine in the making! 2031-2090. 93
pts.
2018 Pommard 1er cru "Grands Epenots"
The 2018
Grands Epenots from Clos de la Chapelle is another quite svelte example of the vintage,
coming in at 13.5 percent octane and offering up very impressive purity and
brightness
in its
youthfully complex bouquet of red and black cherries, red plums, cocoa powder,
gamebird, very
refined soil tones, woodsmoke and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is
bright, fullbodied,
focused
and pure, with lovely depth at the core, fine-grained tannins, excellent soil signature
and a very long, poised and classy finish. This is an outstanding example of
Grands Epenots in the making!
2033-2090. 93 pts.
2018 Corton "Bressandes" Grand Cru- Domaine Clos de la
Chapelle
The 2018
Bressandes from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is another stellar bottle in the making.
The bouquet is deep, nascently complex and very pure, wafting from the glass in
a mix of red and
black cherries, Corton spice tones, spit-roasted venison, a superb base of soil
tones, a touch of
cocoa powder and an understated base of new oak. On the palate the wine is
deep, full bodied and very suave on the attack for young Corton, with a lovely
core of fruit, great soil signature,
ripe, buried tannins and outstanding length and grip on the seamlessly balanced
finish. This is a great bottle of
Bressandes- all it needs is time in the cellar. 2033-2090. 94 pts.
Vins Blancs
2018 Beaune 1er cru "Reversées" Blanc
The 2018
Beaune "Reversées" Blanc from Clos de la Chapelle is an excellent example of the
vintage, with a fine tension between its ripe, but pure fruit and its undertow
of soil. The bouquet
wafts from the glass in a generous blend of pear, apple, acacia blossoms,
chalky soil tones, a
touch of orange zest and a suave foundation of vanillin oak. On the palate the
wine is crisp,
full-bodied, focused and light on its feet, with a good core of fruit, bright
acids and lovely length and
grip on the succulent and bouncy finish. I can see no reason to not wade right
into this wine, as it is drinking
splendidly right out of the blocks! 2020-2030+. 90 pts.
2018 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru "Sous Frétilles"
The 2018
Sous Frétilles from Clos de la Chapelle is older vines than the Reversées and this shows
both in the mid-palate intensity and in the backend mineral drive here. The
bouquet is pure and
flat out lovely, delivering a complex constellation of pear, pink grapefruit, a
superb base of
limestone minerality, bee pollen, vanillin oak and a topnote of orange
blossoms. On the palate the
wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit,
sound acids and
very good length and grip on the long, ripe and vibrant finish. I would opt to
give this a year or
two in the cellar, just to let it stretch its wings a bit more, as there is
more in reserve here. 2022-2035.
91+ pts.
2018 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru
I love
Mark O'Connell's version of Corton-Charlemagne, as I find it one of the classic expressions
of the Pernand side of the hill. His 2018 version is nicely ripe, but still
with both its feet
firmly planted in the deep, limestone soil of the hillside, offering up a
superb, complex bouquet of
pear, golden delicious apple, lemon, incipient notes of crème patissière, acacia blossoms,
beeswax, a beautiful base of chalky soil tones and vanillin oak. On the palate
the wine is deep,
full-bodied, ripe and impeccably balanced, with a superb core of fruit, fine
soil signature, bright
acids and excellent focus and lift on the long, poised and complex finish. Back
in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, one of the best examples of Corton-Charlemagne was made by Domaine Tollot-Beaut
and this 2018 from Clos de la Chapelle reminds me very strongly of the 1992 Tollot-Beaut when it was
first released! 2022-2045. 94
pts.
