2015 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes continues to show very well, and as it settles down in bottle, the tangy acids that underpin its ripe, sun-kissed fruit are becoming more apparent. Aromas of red berry compote, plums, blackberries, dark chocolate and peonies introduce a full-bodied, powerful wine with considerable mid-palate amplitude, structured around fine-grained tannins that are coming to the fore now that this Clos de la Roche it tightening up in bottle—though they remain largely cloaked in the wine's lavish core of fruit. It's an excellent wine, and I see no reason to alter my score or drinking window given earlier this year.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Full medium red. Multidimensional nose combines black cherry, dark raspberry, mocha, brown spices, crushed rock and mellow soil tones. Wonderfully concentrated and elegant, and more expressive in the early going if a bit less sappy than the Chapelle-Chambertin. Offers a mix of red and black fruits (the Chapelle is more black in character) as well as a medicinal menthol quality that suggests the wine will evolve slowly. This plush, broad, mouthfilling wine finishes very long, with suave, refined tannins and captivating minerality and savory soil tones. In a dozen years, my score may look low.
(Don't Miss!)<br /> An overtly floral-suffused nose, and in particular violet and lilac, adds a touch of elegance to the liqueur-like red cherry, plum and dark currant scents. The exceptionally rich and full-bodied flavors possess an outstanding level of dry extract that imparts a highly seductive texture to the mid-palate, indeed it's even caressing, yet the intensity and power really mount as this moves toward the almost painfully intense and explosive finale. Like its Clos St. Denis stable mate, this is superb and should effortlessly reward 20 years of cellaring and still be around 50 years from now.
(the aggregate size of this holding is a whopping 3.4 ha and Ponsot is easily the largest holder in Clos de la Roche). An overtly floral-suffused nose, and in particular violet and lilac, adds a touch of elegance to the liqueur-like red cherry, plum and dark currant scents. The exceptionally rich and full-bodied flavors possess an outstanding level of dry extract that imparts a highly seductive texture to the mid-palate, indeed it’s even caressing, yet the intensity and power really mount as this moves toward the almost painfully intense and explosive finale. Like its Clos St. Denis stable mate, this is superb and should effortlessly reward 20 years of cellaring and still be around 50 years from now Dec 2016, www.burghound.com
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.