"The 2018 vintage has turned out beautifully at Domaine Clos de la Chapelle, and if you are yet to really discover these wines, this would be a very good vintage to get started, as time is a wasting and one day, they are going to be has hard to find as some of the long-established, "big names" of the Côte d'Or."
2018 Beaune 1er cru "les Teurons": The 2018 Teurons from Mark O'Connell and his team at Clos de la Chapelle is a beautiful wine, with its one day earlier picking seemingly giving it just a touch more precision and purity than the Champs Pimont (that is how fast the sugars were climbing at the outset of September of 2018). The bouquet is precise and really pretty, wafting from the glass in a blend of sweet dark berries, black cherries, raw cocoa, dark soil tones, woodsmoke, gamebird and a deft touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and sappy at the core, with superb soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins, sound acids and outstanding focus and grip on the long, suave and complex finish. This is a simply stellar bottle of young Beaune! 2028-2060. 92+ pts.
2018 Volnay 1er cru "en Carelle" :These nice old, sixty year-old vines have done very nicely in the torrid summer of 2018. The wine offers up beautiful depth and purity on the nose, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of black cherries, plums, bitter chocolate, a gorgeous base of soil, gamebird, a hint of lavender, discreet vanillin oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full, with a superb core of ripe fruit, good soil undertow, ripe tannins and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. This is the sole Volnay in the domaine's lineup where one can sense the ripeness of the vintage a bit on the backend (though not at all on the nose), but the wine never loses its fine sense of balance. It comes in listed at 13.5 percent and I would guess that it is probably just a touch higher. That said, it is still an excellent wine. 2026-2055+. 91 pts
2018 Volnay 1er cru "Clos de la Chapelle" monopole: Ten years ago, I thought my cosmology of Volnay vineyards was pretty well-established, but a decade of this domaine's monopole bottling of the premier cru of Clos de la Chapelle has certainly given it a place on my summit of Volnay's Mount Olympus! The 2018 Clos de la Chapelle is an absolutely beautiful wine and perhaps the finest yet from the estate, as it delivers a stellar aromatic constellation of black plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, a gentle touch of meatiness, a complex base of soil, woodsmoke, fresh nutmeg, hints of the black truffles to come, crushed violets and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and nicely plush at the core, with a full-bodied and impeccably balanced format, with fine-grained tannins, superb focus and grip and a long, complex and vibrant finish. This is a supremely elegant example of a sappy and soil-driven 2018 and flat out great juice! 2028-2065+. 94 pts.
2018 Volnay 1er cru "Taillepieds" : The Domaine Clos de la Chapelle farms a small parcel of sixty-five year-old vines in Taillepieds, lying between those of Domaines de Montille and Marquis d'Angerville. Their 2018 Taillepieds is an exhilarating example of this great terroir, offering up a pure, youthful and bottomless bouquet of black cherries, purple berries, raw cocoa, black tea, a gorgeous expression of soil, smoked duck, discreet floral tones and a suave base of new oak. On the palate the wine is very deep, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a stunning synthesis of sappy black fruit and mineral drive, ripe, buried tannins and a very long, pure and very promising finish. This is a proper example of Taillepieds and will need plenty of time in the cellar, but it is going to be absolutely brilliant once it is ready to drink! 2033-2090. 93+ pts.
2018 Pommard 1er cru "Les Chanlins" Vieilles Vignes :The domaine's parcel of vines in Chanlins are closing in on their ninetieth birthday now, and these old vines have delivered a superb premier cru in 2018. The bouquet is pure and precise, wafting from the glass in a refined blend of red plums, cherries, pigeon, a very complex base of soil tones, a hint of nutmeg (from the whole clusters), gentle herb tones, woodsmoke and a discreet foundation of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and sappy at the core, with great soil undertow, fine-grained tannins and impeccable focus and grip on the long, very well-balanced and oh, so promising finish. This comes in listed at 13.5 percent and is a properly-structured young Pommard, but with the Chanlins vineyard's inherent elegance already very much on display. All it needs is some time alone in the cellar to properly blossom! The Volnays here are always the slightly flashier wines out of the blocks, but make no mistake, this is a brilliant wine in the making! 2031-2090. 93 pts.
2018 Pommard 1er cru "Grands Epenots": The 2018 Grands Epenots from Clos de la Chapelle is another quite svelte example of the vintage, coming in at 13.5 percent octane and offering up very impressive purity and brightness in its youthfully complex bouquet of red and black cherries, red plums, cocoa powder, gamebird, very refined soil tones, woodsmoke and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, fullbodied, focused and pure, with lovely depth at the core, fine-grained tannins, excellent soil signature and a very long, poised and classy finish. This is an outstanding example of Grands Epenots in the making! 2033-2090. 93 pts.
2018 Corton "Bressandes" Grand Cru- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle : The 2018 Bressandes from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is another stellar bottle in the making. The bouquet is deep, nascently complex and very pure, wafting from the glass in a mix of red and black cherries, Corton spice tones, spit-roasted venison, a superb base of soil tones, a touch of cocoa powder and an understated base of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full bodied and very suave on the attack for young Corton, with a lovely core of fruit, great soil signature, ripe, buried tannins and outstanding length and grip on the seamlessly balanced finish. This is a great bottle of Bressandes- all it needs is time in the cellar. 2033-2090. 94 pts.