The 2003 Clos de Tart, tasted at the estate and then again from an acquired bottle to witness the effect of air on it, is an outstanding, potentially exceptional wine. That being said, I can’t help but wonder how magnificent it would have been if it had not been acidified. It is dark ruby/purple-colored and bursts from the glass with black cherries, blackberries, and roasting spices. Intensely powerful, this wine boasts superb concentration and depth. A mouth-coating, full-bodied, thick effort, it slathers the palate with black fruits. This sappy, chunky wine possesses an extremely long finish with firm, hard tannin. Air was kind to this 2003, bringing elegance to its muscular nature, and slightly sweetening its tannin. Projected maturity: 2010-2025+.

From the young vines, which will be bottled as Morey-Saint-Denis Laforge premier cru: Wild, sexy aromas of black raspberry, pepper and spices. Superripe, concentrated and chewy, if a bit aggressive and unrefined. A bit warm on the back end. From the base of the clos: Bright red-ruby. Soil-inflected aromas of strawberry, minerals and gunflint. Seductively suave and fine-grained; wonderfully ripe and broad without being excessively sweet. Finishes very long and ripe, with smooth tannins. These vines are planted north-south and produced a decent crop level in 2003. From the middle of the clos (not yet racked): Bright ruby-red. More fruit-driven aromas of black raspberry and minerals. Superconcentrated and sweet, but with a compelling juiciness and firm mineral underpinning. This conveys an impression of great ripeness without heaviness. Palate-staining, superripe finish throws off notes of smoke, minerals, licorice, meat and roasted herbs. From further up the hill: Bright ruby-red. Cooler, more reserved aromas of blackberry syrup, licorice and spice. Sweet but firm and spicy, with a juicy, minerally character not unlike the previous sample. A classic sample, with a very long finish showing torrefaction notes of tar, chocolate and licorice. From vines at the top of the hill: Saturated ruby-red. Knockout nose combines black fruits, minerals, gunflint, smoked meat and mint. Dense, thick, superripe and hugely rich but youthfully closed today. Spreads out impressively and lingers on the uncompromisingly dry finish, which features substantial ripe tannins. An assemblage of all but the first lot: Dee p ruby-red. Blackberry, minerals, flint, tar, bitter chocolate and smoke; in this sample I picked up the sexy Tara nsaud barrels, which comprise 15% of the blend. Dense, superrich and velvety, but with tangy dark berries and good mineral lift giving life to the mid-palate. Finishes with explosive length and big, slightly aggressive tannins. This should last a long time but will also be accessible young owing to its extraordinary richness of texture.

This is enormously ripe and explodes from the glass with warm wood-framed aromas of coffee, tobacco, plum, prune, smoked meat and dried herbs that introduce massively constituted though not incredibly structured flavors of serious size, weight and depth and blessed with buckets of extract that completely buffer the firm and ripe, firmly tannic backbone. This is not my style but it's not imbalanced or unduly warm and it's a wine that will live for 50 years.

This vintage of leonine heat produced an extraordinary but divisive wine.  It remains astonishingly dark in colour with excitingly fruity but comprehensively unclassical aromas, still locked into some sort of enduring primary phase.  On the palate, it is very showy and distracting, full of sugarplum fruits: ample wealth but in slightly soupy form.  The moist liquorice on the finish might be the most classical element.  You can’t say it’s unbalanced, though, and it shows no sign whatsoever of premature senescence.  I have enthused over this wine in the past but feel that, at least at present, the fruit seems simpler than that of cooler years, unredeemed by aromatic refinement – but it’s a singular red burgundy which will set the table talking whenever it is served.

The 2003 Clos de Tart Grand Cru is a divisive wine. I can understand the pleasure it gives. It is not a bad wine at all. But the strong kirsch aromas (Ribena springs to mind) simply are not Burgundy, in which case, I can find plenty of alternatives at far cheaper prices from elsewhere. The palate is rich and saccharine, with kirsch dominating from start to finish. I just think this will pall after just a couple of glasses, hence my parsimonious score. Tasted at the "Three" dinner at Bouchard Père in Beaune.

Even darker than the 2005 – dark purplish crimson. Lightly tarry nose, not as opulent and fruity as the 2005. Sweet start, and then distinctly brûlée and a little weak on the finish. Not opulent. And rather drying tannins on the finish. A little light on the end. Rather a fast fade. Doesn't quite hang together. Picked very late compared with their neighbours, apparently. (JR)