“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time,” said Tolstoy. This offer marks our 18th year representing this historic monopole Grand Cru in Australia. Now, finally, we have been rewarded with an allocation allowing us to offer the wines more widely. Clos de Tart is simply one of the greatest terroirs of the Côte d’Or. It is the largest of Burgundy’s five Grand Cru monopole vineyards and occupies some of the greatest terroir in Morey-St Denis. The vineyard pre-dates the earliest historical record when it was purchased by the Cistercian nuns of Notre Dame de Tart in 1141. There have been just four owners since that time, and today, it forms part of François Pinault’s Artémis Domaines. Since Sylvain Pitiot was appointed manager in the late ’90s, this site has produced one of Burgundy’s most consistently outstanding Grand Cru wines. Jacques Devauges–previously of Domaine de l’Arlot and now regisseur of Clos de Lambrays–oversaw several vintages before Alessandro Noli was drafted in March 2019. This appointment followed the acquisition of the domaine in 2017 by François Pinault’s Artémis Domaines, which counts Château Latour, Domaine d’Eugénie and Château Grillet in its wine arm. Noli arrived in Morey, having done a brilliant job resuscitating the Rhône jewel, Château Grillet. Under the important eras of Sylvain Pitiot and Jacques Devauges, the wines were impressive, but they did need time. As I have touched on before, Noli has been ringing in the changes in his brand-new cellar. He is a sucker for elegance and finesse, and his goal is to temper the natural power of the clos to bring greater harmony and resonance to the final wine. “For me,” Noli told us, “There are three things that define a great wine: elegance, elegance and elegance!” To achieve his goal, Noli is using far less new oak, fermenting in large cask, and bottling with a new, state-of-the-art line. Most significantly, the extraction is much lighter. In 2021, this amounted to just a single foot stomp early on (before the fermentation started) followed by a daily pump over. “At Clos de Tart, we really don’t have to extract,” Noli continued, “The matter is already there.” The clos has practised organic viticulture since 2015, with 2018 being the first certified organic vintage. Biodynamic practices were introduced in 2016, with certification achieved in 2019. Under Noli’s management, the vineyard is segmented into 12 parcels, and to distinguish the specific qualities of each micro-terroir within the clos, each parcel ferments separately. This segmentation is mostly based on three principal criteria: soil composition (more or less limestone or marl), the source and quality of the plant material (massale selection or clones), and the age of the vines. Noli concedes that the new parcellation will require more work, but he is convinced it will pay dividends. The sum of all this evolution? Clos de Tart has been making its most exciting wines since we started visiting the domaine (some 20 years ago). Noli’s approach is resulting in considerably more sophisticated and precise wines than those of the Pitiot/Devauges eras. The natural potency of Clos de Tart is still there, yet the wines are more digestible and elegant, with finer tannins, more perfume and finesse. This also means the wines are more enjoyable young, without sacrificing age-worthiness. People can say what they like about large company ownership; if the wines get better and better, we’re all for it! This release coincides with the domaine’s new policy to release the Clos de Tart Grand Cru after almost five years of aging. Regarding 2021, it’s a superb rendition—one of the finest, most age-worthy red Burgundies I’ve tried from this vintage. For Noli, it’s his favourite set of wines he’s produced since arriving. “I love this vintage,” he enthused when we tasted together in Morey-Saint-Denis late in 2023. “The finesse and elegance are what I’ve been looking for from Clos de Tart.” While 2021 is widely considered to be a lighter year in Burgundy, Noli’s wines demonstrate superb depth of flavour complemented by ripe acidity and fine tannins. Alongside the current release, we can also offer a very limited parcel of the Domaine’s museum releases.