2016 POMMARD 1er Cru Clos des Épeneaux Domaine Comte Armand, Lea & Sandeman

POMMARD

2017 1er Cru Clos des Épeneaux Domaine Comte Armand

IN STOCK
Grapes Pinot Noir
Colour Red
Origin France, Burgundy
District Côte d'Or
Sub-district Côte de Beaune
Village Pommard
Classification 1er Cru
ABV 13.5%
Vineyard Clos des Épeneaux

Tasting this in the cellar, the final wine is not yet complete so we tasted the 2 constituent parts and then a final blend put together by Paul. The first part (40%) comes from the younger vines which are between 35 and 55 years old. There is great poise to this and lovely push. There is a firmness that pushes back at you here, a remarkable powerful wall of minerality that is like a brooding edifice. Creating a crisp backdrop to the nice weight of bright red fruit. Pretty Pinot with a lifted character. Crunchy and nervy. The majority (60%) will be made up of the old vine parcel, 65-90 year old vines. This component is on another plain. So much more richness here. a lovely sweeter feel. Great depth. Denser, really quite wonderfully indulgent. A much more luxurious and decadent feel. Darker red fruit and super texture. The resultant blend is very impressive. Somehow more perfumed on the nose. This expresses itself really nicely. generous but well measured. Comes together well and you totally see the decision on these proportions. That dense richer fruit sits well on the brighter, firmer lift of the younger vines. Good delivery now - ample weight and good level of ping. Nicely complementary components that end up well balanced but certainly generous on the fruit side. Drinking range: 2025 - 2033 L&S (Nov 2018)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

Mid to deep crimson. Here the nose is really getting where we want it to go, and it is balanced. Very stylish fruit, perfect balancing acidity, starts of secondary aromas, excellent length. I admit to undervaluing this vintage because of the size of the crop. I would really enjoy drinking this now, but it will continue to keep well. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: **** 93 Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy  (Jan 2024)

The 2017 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru feels just a little flat on the nose; it’s clean but needs to convey more energy. The palate is fleshy with lower acidity than its peers – a Pommard that is "open for business." Sweet with candied orange peel and black pepper on the finish. Fine, but not long-term. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2022)

Mid crimson with nothing like the density of colour of the next three vintages. The bouquet is exceptionally elegant, Epenots (Epeneaux) more than Pommard. In the mouth, the fruit has taken a step forward on the path to maturity. Oak gives a pleasing backstop. Not too far away from being ready to start. Tasted: November 2021 Rating: **** Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy  (Nov 2021)

Domaine Comte Armand

A domaine totalling nine hectares, of which the most important part is a magnificent five hectare monopole of the Pommard Premier Cru Clos des Epeneaux, which was put together by Nicolas Marey in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (along with the DRC Romanée Saint Vivant 'Marey-Monge'). These vineyards were all sold, except for the Clos (it now been enclosed by a wall), which came to Jean-François Armand as a dowry when he married Nicolas' daughter in 1826. The Volnay vineyards were added in 1994, followed by parcels in Auxey Duresses.

The current Comte Armand is a lawyer living in Paris, but very supportive of the régisseurs who have looked after this domaine for the thirty years or so that L&S have been buying here. The 1980 vintage, made by one of the many Rossignols of Volnay who was in charge at the time, was for us a great introduction to the possibilities of the great Clos des Epeneaux vineyard. Then came the era of Pascal Marchand, a young Quebecois who came to do a harvest with Domaine Bruno Clair and just never left. He began a period of radical restructuring and the introduction of organic and then biodynamic farming, while making very dark, dense and long-lived wines. Benjamin Leroux, hugely respected amongst growers who approach things from an organic or biodynamic point of view, then took over, and refined this approach and changed the way the parcels of vines are divided up for harvesting, paying less attention to just the age of the vines, and more to the underlying soil types. Claude Bourguignon was employed to provide a full geological survey of the Clos as the basis for this. Under Benjamin the wines of the Clos gained in finesse and precision, while still having the depth and richness expected of a great Pommard.

Both Pascal and Benjamin were keen to expand beyond the confines of the Clos, and the Domaine also has vines in Volnay, and, a particular enthusiasm of both Pascal and Benjamin, in Auxey Duresses, where they are convinced of the great potential of some of this village's undervalued and neglected terroirs. Paul Zinetti, who had worked with Ben for four years, took over in 2014.

The vineyard is cultivated organically (ECOCERT certified) and biodynamically. The grapes are entirely de-stemmed, but left intact, for a five to eight-day cold maceration before the fermentation, which lasts five to ten days, and then the wine remains in the fermenters for between three and fifteen days, depending on the vintage. In most years, the total time with skin contact will be around four weeks, which is longer than most. The wines will then be aged in barrel for between eighteen and twenty-four months, with new wood limited to 30% for the wine from the old vines of the Clos, down to none at all for the village wines.

Paul said from the outset that he wanted to make to make a less tannic wine in the Clos, and one which is more about aromatic length. In this he is continuing the route that Ben was following, but perhaps taking it even further.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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