1976 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru
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Tasting notes
The 1976 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was one of several pleasant surprises from a decade that many might write off. Clear in color, it offers red cherries, crushed strawberry and hints of cassis on the nose, which is fresh and lively, shrugging off the merciless heat of that summer. The palate is built around a sweet core of red fruit with veins of orange zest and tangerine, delivering a fine bead of acidity and a long, generous finish. This bottle is as impressive as the ex-cellar bottle poured at Clos de Tart to celebrate Sylvain Pitiot’s retraité . Tasted at the Clos de Tart vertical at Ten Trinity in London.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Tasted at Sylvain Pitiot's retirement dinner at the domaine, the 1976 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was actually served blind at the end of the dinner. I guessed the decade correctly, 1970s, wavered between 1971 or 1976, and it turned out to be the latter. Deep in color and showing little signs of aging, it has a tarry, gravelly nose that quickly ushers the vestige of black dusky fruit out of the door, once in the glass. There is certainly good weight in the glass, the tannins having remained "upright and solid" over the past four decades. It was one of those wines that initially get your hopes up as a lost classic, but if truth be told, I felt that it felt very austere and dry on the finish, and that became more acute with time. Drink soon if you have a bottle. Tasted September 2015.
Bright, surprisingly deep ruby. Great energy on the nose, then a real turn of life: zesty and complete. A real surprise! Really together! Difficult to spit. Very neat – surely at its apogee? A very dry year but there is actually a lot of flesh in the wine. (JR)