Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2012 1.5L

97 points Neal Martin (Wine Advocate): "Tasted at the pre-dinner vertical to mark Sylvain Pitiot's retirement from the domaine, the 2012 Clos de Tart Grand Cru has just a wonderful nose with more fruit intensity than the 2013, so pure and feminine with ebullient raspberry preserve and strawberry notes, sheer pinoté! The palate is beautifully structured with fine tannin, tensile, refined and aristocratic. There is a brilliant focus here and an extraordinary sustained finish that leaves you desperate for the next sip. What it shares in common with the 2008 Clos de Tart Grand Cru is that it is predestined to be overshadowed by the 2009 and 2010. That should not be the case - it is a quite brilliant articulation of the Clos. Bon vin! Drink: 2020-2045. (10/29/15)"

94-97 points Fine Wine Review: "Yields were about half of normal in 2012 -- just 14 hl/ha (26 hl/ha is normal here). As usual, there was a number of unassembled cuvées to taste separately and then an approximation of the final blend. Some of the cuvées are whole cluster, but others are not. One portion of the vineyard was harvested on 19 September because it already was at 14.5º potential alcohol. The others were harvested between 28 September and 1 October and came in at roughly 13.6-13.8º potential alcohol. The approximate assemblage is spice and dense with fine dark fruit and a combination of power and finesse. This is a tannic wine and also a classic Clos de Tart. (Issue #141; 2014)"

96 points (18/20) La Revue du Vin de France: "Following on from this, with beautiful density on the palate, the 2012 shows more nuance, as if the estate were beginning to realize that the magic of great Burgundies is not to be found through excessive power, but in this combination of deep, graceful substance. (2015)"

95+ points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "A deep, dense wine, the 2012 Clos de Tart presents an incredibly appealing personality, although it is going to need quite a bit of time to shed some of its considerable youthful exuberance. Cherry jam, plum, dark spices, menthol and new leather flesh out in a wine of substantial depth and pure intensity. The 2012 is going to require considerable time to fully come together, but it is hugely appealing and totally sexy, even at this early stage. Drink: 2024-2042. (Apr 2015)"