Clos de Tart

Tucked away behind the village of Morey-Saint-Denis, vines planted north to south rather than the orthodox east-west orientation à la "La Romanée" to prevent soil erosion. Clos de Tart is secluded from the gaze of the outside world, unlike the grand crus adjoining Vosne-Romanée that silently put up with a never-ending cavalcade of pilgrims, not to mention the odd winemaker seeking an illicit cutting to propagate their fortune.

Maybe in my own naivety, I had presumed that just like that antediluvian pressoir, Sylvain was a constant fixture at Clos de Tart. He is one of a small number of winemakers sutured to their domaine irrespective of proprietorship: Aubert de Villaine is Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Dominique Lafon is Domaine de Comtes-Lafon and so on. When I caught wind of Sylvain's retirement earlier this year, I cannot deny that it was not unlike hearing the dissolution of a friend's marriage. All of a sudden a chapter in its long, long history was about to close.

Some have questioned Sylvain's tenet of picking later than his neighbours, not least Clos des Lambrays, whose fruit was sometimes in the vat two or three weeks before Clos de Tart, or "Clos de Tard" as many quipped, including Sylvain himself. I have harboured reservations myself since I am not an ardent proponent of excessively late picking, especially with respect to a sensitive variety such as Pinot Noir. Yet, it cannot be denied that time in bottle benefits Clos de Tart, its initial glossy veneer abraded by time thus revealing terroir. NEAL MARTIN