Tasted in Bligny-lès-Beaune with Pierre Meurgey, 27 May 2024.
Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
Au Château – 14 Grande rue
21200 Bligny-lès-Beaune
Tel: +1 816 223 0257
www.closchapelle.com
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More reports with Clos de la Chapelle
Pierre on 2022:
“Quantity and quality – we have to be happy – it’s changed the life of the domaine as we had so little to sell in recent years. The last years, the volume was low mainly because of the concentration of the juices. At Clos de la Chapelle every year we don’t have much but more than enough buyers.
“Our prices went up in 2020 and 2021 but not in 2022 and all the 2022s are now presold despite that we have new cuvées of Vonay Santenots du Milieu and Meursault villages – plus some Meursault Charmes and Pommard Rue au Vache in 22 – more than 1 hectare extra. As we are a small domaine, that makes a difference.…”
The wines…
It’s not a word that I use very often, but year-in, year-out, it is always a privilege to taste here – oh for mixed cases of this domaine’s wines from the last 10 years… !!
All these wines tasted from half-bottles:
2022 Beaune 1er Les Teurons
0.27 ha – next to the bottom of Grèves.
Dark perfume but beautiful perfume – yes! Top shape, I love the architecture of this – fluid, mouth-watering – fine intensity but width too. The barrel is present, though relatively modest – the finish broad and lasting – I love it !!
At 0.63 ha this is the largest parcel of the domaine.
A deeper, darker – almost inky – depth to this aroma. Even more concentration, cool fruit and width of flavour, fine velour textured. Juicy dark fruit that impresses in the finish. I’d keep this 2 years to start with – the Teurons is more open today – but here is more wine – bravo!
2022 Volnay 1er En Carelle
Just below the chapel, same height and exposure as Champans. 0.35 ha planted about 1960. Some brown clay, lots of small rocks on reasonably deep soil. All destemmed as usual.
Really perfumed with redder fruit supporting this perfume. Mouth-filling volume with tons of energy too – a flavour that coats your palate – finishing longer – with an almost silky layer of tannin, grainless of course! Superb…
2022 Volnay 1er Santenots du Milieu
New, now under conversion to organic viticulture. 55-year-old vines, though most are 161-49 roostocks so replacing as needed (replicage) rather than in blocks.
So much more elegantly perfumed – but at the same time a smaller nose. Airy-styled red fruit and much complexity. The flavour always fresh and melting with a very fine focus. Beautiful, elegant, delicious wine with a very sneaky length too.
Bought in two lots by Victor Boillot in 1865 and them 1870. The Lavalle map of 1855 shows this contiguous with the next vineyard – Pitures – but this is 1m higher and the wall is there, so Mark isn’t sure. Here a lighter, browner, as opposed to redder soil vs En Chapelle. Also planted between the mid-1950s and early 60s. The cabotte is now renovated though seemingly with more paperwork needed than for planting a vineyard! This clos extends to 0.55 ha or 13.2 ouvrées. ‘Slightly higher elevation chalkier with more limestone, really those are the elements that I think you can taste in the mid-palate. Here the vines run east-west.’ Since 2020 a part (20%) has been replanted.
Less airy, less width but extra density to this red fruit aromatic – but retaining fine focus. Hmm – what a difference – large scale, extra depth of flavour – extra complexity – but also with a fine architecture. Bravo – that’s a beauty – just a nose short of being a great wine today but that will come!
2022 Volnay 1er Cru
100% the young vine (2015) harvest from Taillepieds. This harvested early – ‘we didn’t want to pass 14°!’
A more structured, deeper and darker nose – finely fresh. Ooh, dark, very direct, structural – very Taillepieds already. The texture is also very good. Mouth-watering, saline and decently long for such young vines. And I could drink it now – though 2-3 years will be about perfect.
2022 Volnay 1er Taillepieds
Much, much lighter soil. Much stonier too. ‘Totally different – 50m higher in elevation with multiple types of limestone. 0.47 ha.’ About 30% of their surface in Taillepieds is this older parcel. These the 95 year old vines – ‘they were once unproductive but in this vintage gave a healthy 35 hl/ha.’ This with a later malo.
Extra depth to this colour. A darker, almost sappy concentration to this nose. Starting smaller than the young vines but this flavour expands in all directions, even with a mm of cushion. The finish is next level though – textured and so much longer…
Three barrels worth and these are 100-year-old vines at the base – at least half are remaining – here Port not Porc !!
Not the darkest colour but these are dark berries on the nose – slightly cushioned and inviting. In the mouth, this has concentration and elegance – really a high quality for ‘villages.’ The finish with a little extra light and energy – shorter than the Taillepieds, of course, but that’s a top villages!
On the border of Volnay and Pommard. Old-vines, 0.25 ha from 1930. ‘It’s a mystery this vineyard – we see fragility with some court noué but the vines keep producing super fruit – it’s a treasure here.’
Here is an extra aromatic width of red fruit. As always with this wine – we have extra volume, great architecture and a next level of accessible complexity compared to most. Long long finishing – a width of flavour that’s faintly accented with bitters that lasts and lasts. Simply excellent wine, and potentially a great one.
2022 Corton Bressandes
There’s no Rognets anymore – part of the separation with Champy – but the domaine got a little more Beaune Reversées which has already been replanted to white – 0.18 ha worth.
A profound silky depth of aroma – seemingly silky textured and modestly oaked. I like the shape of this – also nicely architectural but with a couple of mm of cushion to the texture such that I don’t say chiselled. Depth of flavour here – in fact in all directions as you head into the finish – the flavour the most persistent of any of these – in fact, it defines this wine – I prefer the starting aspects of a number of previous wines but here is the longest finish, by far. Super wine !!
And les Whites…
2022 Beaune 1er Reversées Blanc
Half young vines here which we had to brake their production. 50% tank elevage and a lrge format new barrel.
Hmm – an attractive depth of faint noble reduction. The reduction is present in the flavours too – a bit more than an accent but not unattractive. Mouth-filling and silky with a pretty and juicy finale. Delicious though today I’d reach for the carafe…
2022 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Sous Fretille
A tiny plot of just 3 ouvrees. Plain east facing this parcel – 0.12 ha. ‘Our mini Corton-Charlemagne – it has the same elevation and you can see one from the other…
Here there’s a little smoky oak. More fluid and mineral – I love this intensity – still a little smoky but I really love the shape and flavour of this – more than excellent wine.
We are very happy to have these new vines. From next to Santenots Dessous and Milieu – vines of about 30 years old. There was a small parcel of pinot here too but have re-grafted to chardonnay at the end of last year. Some new 450-litre barrels used here.
Hmm – a width of freshness and energy. That’s beautiful in the mouth – structured – a wine with cut – almost chiselled and precise too but beautifully silky too. An almost saline minerality in this finish. A practically great villages…
2022 Meursault Vignes Blanches
The lowest part of this parcel is next to Santenots du Dessous
More dry extract in this yellow citrus nose – faintly reductive again. A little more direct and certainly a little more energy, slightly oak-cushioned finishing flavour – and long too. I could drink this today but would prefer to wait 18 months to 2 years. Beautiful and sneakily long finishing wine.
70 year-old vines. ‘From the high part of low!’ Towards Limozin in the north of the parcel.
Hmm – not super-wide but still a gorgeous width of vibrant yellow citrus clarity. Extra in all directions in the mouth – fresh, complex, detailed, juicy, and delicious – really delicious. And this finishes with wonderfully energetic flavour and length – bravo!!
2022 Corton-Charlemagne
From the Pernand side in En-Charlemagne – Mark particularly looking for leaner, more angular rather than riper style – ‘Because you can’t do that in Montrachet. We don’t pick late, we use a Champagne-style, short, 3-3.5 hour press of whole clusters. Debourbage overnight with an early morning racking into barrel with plenty of lees. Once per month batonnage after malo, until about 2 months before bottling. This is always our last picked vineyard’ – west, north-west positioned.
A calmer width of aroma, cushioned with a little oak – there’s a small vibration of citrus here but quite guarded versus the energy of the Charmes. Large scale, a growing volume of flavour though today it is more to the oak side. The shape, energy and length are really top-class – but for my palate I wouldn’t be returning until 2027-2030…