1999 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes
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Tasting notes
The 1999 Clos de la Roche Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has a generous nose: a mélange of red and black fruit, wild mint and Provençal herbs. There's good depth with a licorice hint emerging with aeration, though it politely remains in the background. The palate is well balanced with impressive depth, demonstrating a little more grip than the 2005, that licorice trait emanating from the warmth of that summer coming through on the mid-palate. Stocky, like many 1999s, yet with ample freshness, though I might be seeking more rondeur on the finish. Drinking perfectly now, though it will keep for at least another decade. Tasted at Ponsot's 150th anniversary vertical at the Domaine.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Beginning to show some hints of tertiary evolution, the 1999 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is showing very well, delivering aromas of ripe plums, sweet red berries, exotic spices, orange rind and forest floor. Full-bodied, ample and seamless, with a fleshy core of fruit and a sapid, perfumed finish, this is one of the high points of Laurent Ponsot's time at the helm of this storied domaine.
This was a magical bottle of the 1999 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, a wine that's just beginning to hit its stride as it approaches its 20th birthday, unfurling in the glass with aromas of red berries, cassis, dark chocolate, cinnamon, dried rose petals and orange rind. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and immensely concentrated, with a broad attack, lovely acids and a formidable reserve of creamy old-vine fruit, structured around a chalky chassis of tannin that evokes the great old Burgundies of yesteryear. Concluding with a long and expansive finish, this is still a young wine, and another two decades of aging won't be a problem. But it's now clear that this ranks as one of Ponsot's greatest recent hits—and one of the high points of this reputed vintage.
About the producer
Domaine Ponsot is one of the most well-known estates in the Côte de Nuits, famed for owning three of the original four hectares of the Clos de la Roche Grand Cru. The legendary domaine also produces another nine Grand Cru cuvées.