Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Vieille Vignes, Ch. de la Tour

Revisited from bottle, the 2018 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes wafts from the glass with notes of sweet berry fruit, plums, raw cocoa, warm spices, petals and burning embers. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with high concentration and beautifully refined tannins, it's deep and elegantly muscular, with a long, lively finish. Tightly wound, this will reward bottle age. - William Kelley

The 2018 Clos de Vougeot Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru displays more complexity and mineralité on the nose compared to the Cuvée Classique; the fruit is a little darker, revealing hints of cola and sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, lithe and fine-boned. Slightly chalky-textured toward the precise finish. This is actually more 2019 in style. A resounding success. - Neal Martin

Deep cherry red. A little more spice and intensity and less seductive sweetness than the Cuvée Classique. More oaky on the palate, flatter somehow, as if the fruit has been a subdued by the oak. Certainly less seductive than the Cuvée Classique at the moment and needs more time. - Julia Harding MW

Bright, dark red-ruby. Superripe, complex aromas of black raspberry, black cherry and licorice complicated by subtle soil tones. Sweeter and creamier than the cuvée classique and much more approachable today owing to its sheer sucrosité and depth. This beautifully balanced wine's thick, concentrated fruit covers its substantial building tannins on the very long, slowly mounting finish. - Stephen Tanzer

Like the cuvée classique, very ripe, almost but not quite overripe – ie there’s some dried cherry here too. Deep, rich and velvety even though the tannins are wall-to-wall at the moment. This does have more concentration but I prefer the cuvée classique for the price. - Julia Harding MW

(this is the last vintage of this wine to come entirely from a block of vines planted in 1910, and the last to be labeled Vieilles Vignes de Plus de 100 Ans, as François Labet is beginning a replanting program; beginning with 2015, this wine will come from several of Labet's holdings around the Clos and will simply be called Vieilles Vignes): Bright ruby-red. Lovely mineral and peony high notes lift dark fruits on the nose. Sappy, dense and penetrating, offering terrific concentration and lift to its flavors of dark berries, licorice and minerals. A superb vintage for this wine, less austere than some previous years. "We're coming from an era of cooler soils to warmer soils," noted Labet. "Global warming has been very good for Clos-Vougeot." This thick but energetic wines finishes with suave but serious building tannins and superb length. Incidentally, there was no separate Hommage bottling in 2014. - Stephen Tanzer

Bright, dark red. Tight on the nose, with black cherry, mineral and mocha flavors lifted by nuances of pepper and flowers. Very sweet and deep but reserved; even less accessible than the cuvée classique but showing terrific clarity of fruit. Best today on the very long, savory back end, which features suave tannins and pepper and saline elements. - Stephen Tanzer

(From vines plantes in 1910). Here the nose is similar to the regular cuvee from a compositional standpoint but the fruit is denser and more complex as well. The very concentrated broad-shouldered flavours possess excellent concentration as the copious dry extract both coasts the palate and buffers the extremely firm tannic spine on the explosively long but impeccably well-balanced finish. This is distinctly old school in style and will require extended cellaring to arrive at its peak.