2017 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru

This wine is superbly elegant and more accessible at this stage than either the '18 or the '19 vintage. The texture is silky, almost soft, yet there is enough substance to linger invitingly on the mineral-accented finish. Some reduction still marks the nose, but there is a forward, aromatic raspberry fruit with an edge of violets and liquorice spice. Drinking already, this will last another decade or more in a proper cellar.(CC)

A much more floral-inflected nose is equally fresh and ripe with a broader range of spice elements adding breadth to the pretty red and blue pinot fruit aromas that are trimmed in noticeable if not invasive wood. The caressing and wonderfully vibrant medium-bodied flavors possess better mid-palate density before concluding in a lingering, balanced and much more complex finale. I like the focused drive of the finish; indeed this could aptly be described as a wine that delivers power without weight. I would further note that the 2017 is a relatively elegant example and, like the La Forge, a wine that could be approached on the earlier side, which is to say after 7 to 8 years.