Clos de Tart’s Pitiot toasts retirement in HK

Former Clos de Tart technical director, Sylvain Pitiot, marked his retirement with a tasting in Hong Kong this week, having handed over the reins of the Burgundy grand cru in January.

In honour of his retirement, Sylvain Pitiot and his successor Jacques Devauges guided guests through Sylvain’s vintages at Clos de Tart at Hong Kong’s Peninsular Hotel. Starting from 1996, his first vintage, the vertical tasting included 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2011 of Clos de Tart as well as 2011 Forges de Tart, the Domaine’s second wine.

After 20 years at the helm of the 7.5 hectare grand cru monopole, Sylvain handed over the reins to Jacques Devauges in January, although he will stay in an advisory role until the 2015 harvest.

“The terroir we have is the best in Burgundy,” said Sylvain. “We’ve invested so much in all materials and rigorously selected each plant from the beginning so we can be confident in producing consistently good wines. Burgundy has changed a lot since the 1990s because winemakers know that the most important work goes into the vineyard. Clos de Tart is a spectacular Domaine and I was lucky that I was given the chance to transform it. I am very happy to hand over to Jacques, I have every confidence that he will do even more wonderful work.”

Jacques, an oenologist from Dijon worked at Domaine de l’Arlot as technical director as well as Domaine de la Vougeraie and Frederic Magnien. He studied viticulture at the University of Burgundy.

“Sylvain has made such huge improvements in his time there,” he said. “It will be a significant challenge but one I am looking forward to undertaking very much. I would like to thank Sylvain and the Domaine’s owner, Didier Mommessin for giving me this opportunity.”