Wine Advisor
Chateau de la Tour, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2013
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(from vines picked on October 5, as in 1978; 24 h/h): Medium red with a faint amber tinge at the edge. Distinctly wilder on the nose than the 2016, and as much about soil as primary fruits, conveying perfumed scents of plum, currant, cherry, dried flowers and spices. A juicy, salty, soil-driven wine with very good density and noteworthy elegance, with its aromatic red fruit flavors complicated by mocha and spices. Still a bit youthfully inexpressive--even imploded--but nicely perfumed from start to firmly tannic, classically dry finish. Here the tannins are a bit dustier than those of the '16, which is also longer on the aftertaste. An October vintage, says Labet. I suspect this wine is passing through a sullen stage today.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good dark red with ruby highlights. Deep, brooding aromas of black fruits, minerals and dark chocolate. Lush, sweet and layered, conveying a strong impression of sucrosité, but a rose petal quality gives the wine an unexpected light touch (and it's also bone-dry at under one gram per liter residual sugar, according to François Labet). The wine's richness is nicely leavened by a note of wild herbs and sound acidity. Finishes with plush, broad tannins and lovely lift and length. When I asked Labet when he would drink this wine, he responded: Tonight. But he added that it will probably close up in bottle.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright, full red-ruby. A wild essence of Clos-Vougeot on the nose: black cherry, smoky herbs, pepper and mint. At once superrich and juicy, with dark cherry fruit complicated by a saline element. In a distinctly powerful style, finishing with strong tannic structure and superb persistence. The stem-influenced high notes are more apparent in this wine today than in the cuvée classique.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2013 Clos de Vougeot Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru, picked from 5 October according to Pierre Labet, has a fragrant bouquet, fresher than many other tasted, pure raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, nicely integrated oak. The palate is less rustic than many others, finely balanced, with moderate depth and just a bit of hardness on the finish that one can easily abide. Lovely, though would I cellar long-term? Probably no.
