A Singular ESTATE
Clos de Tart: an Estate sculpted by its exceptional and unique history
For more than 650 years (1141 to 1789), Cistercian nuns, known as the "Tart Ladies" or "Tart Cistercians" brought a monastic way of life to the Estate, the spirit of which still endures today.
The geographical location of Clos de Tart, right in the centre of the village and not far from the famous Clos de Vougeot, shows the extent to which, throughout the centuries, the Estate was an integral part of medieval monastic viticulture.
As the Estate has only had four proprietors in its history, a feeling of permanence has arisen from this continuity of ownership. It is a setting of utmost serenity where vineyard workers masterly perform age-old techniques with great precision under the benevolent gaze of the Tart Virgin (the emblematic statuette from the Fourteenth Century who watches over the Estate).
Surrounded by the Estate's impressive hewn-stone wall, the vines flourish in peace on the well-exposed slope. The resulting wine is then matured and slowly evolves in our cavernous and silent underground cellars that occupy two floors.
Upon entering the courtyard of the Estate, visitors are often visibly moved by the tranquillity and quietude that reign here on this resplendent site. In one of the buildings, they can discover the old wine press, a "parrot press" that was operated using a series of ropes and pulleys and used every year from 1570 to 1924. Fastidiously maintained, this wine press serves as an interesting model of engineering, not just because of its impressive size but also because it is probably the only one of its kind.
Time may go by, but it seems to stand still at Clos de Tart, and this is particularly fortuitous in a world which is constantly changing.
