Each Tuesday our little tasting group in Pittsburgh dreams of Burgundy by sharing wines over a modest lunch at a local bistro. For this week’s theme of Pommard, as usual we tasted the wines “blind” without foreknowledge of the producer, specific climat and vintage. The experience is always instructive and fun, and occasionally delightful with startling surprises. This week was no exception.
1990 DOMAINE LEROY POMMARD “LES VIGNOTS”
The wine of the day showed a dark, youthful ruby color in the glass. Fresh, ripe red fruit and pleasant earthy notes wafted from the glass. The wine’s pure red fruits had marvelous concentration brought into perfect focus and balance with startlingly fresh acidity and minerality wrapped in elegant tannins. Tasters’ guesses ranged across 2013 to 2005 to 2002 for vintage and most assuredly a premier cru.
Wrong and wrong! The 1990 Domaine Leroy, Pommard :”Les Vignots” was 27 years “young” and from a well placed village lieu-dit. It left our experienced group of Burgundy tasters shaking our heads. The vibrant color, the pure fruit, the unbridled freshness, and the wine’s sheer vitality in the glass delivered pleasure second to none.
As for the reasons, certainly the bottle was purchased directly at the time of release and cellar aged properly for decades. The “Vignots” climat is a fine terroir, rich in clay and limestone on a slope with good drainage But in the end, one concludes that only a vigneron with the passion and savoir-faire of Lalou Bize-Leroy could make such the wine.
LEROY AND BIODYNAMICS
Her legendary vineyard practices rely on a biodynamic approach with meticulously detailed work by hand on each vine. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides never touch either the soils or the vines. Only natural teas and herbal mixtures are applied to tap into the vines’ natural energies and capacities to resist diseases on their own.
Early in the season–often during raw weather in April–time consuming ébourgeonnage by hand removes buds selectively from each vine to maintain low yields. As the season progresses the tips of the vines are neither clipped nor trimmed to maximize energy within the vines. Additional removal of buds occurs after flowering.
Selection of only ripe fruit occurs during hand harvesting followed by a meticulous second selection in the cuverie to ensure only the best fruit goes into wooden vats. Fermentation occurs with native yeasts and whole bunches of grapes, stems and all. Gentle punch downs and remontage occur during slow fermentation. After pressing, the new wines go by gravity for aging first into one cellar and then into an even deeper, colder cellar until final bottling.
But all this description of process matters little to the ultimate dazzling reality of the wine in the glass, in this case after twenty seven years in bottle. It was yet another blind tasting demonstrating that Lalou Bize-Leroy can produce spectacular wines of unrivaled pleasure and refinement. So pity the wines that followed.
DOMAINE JEAN-MARC BOULEY, POMMARD “LES RUGIENS”
The second wine of day offered a promising start. Its ruddy color showed cellar aging and smelled of ripe red fruits with meaty, earthy notes. In the mouth, pure, ripe dark red fruit with good concentration and fine freshness suggested a good older vintage. A touch of firm tannins remained on the finish, but the wine’s overall balance led to guesses of a premier cru from 1998, 1999 or 2002.
Indeed it was the 1999 Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley, Pommard “Les Rugiens” 1er cru, and what a wonder delight it was to drink. In the past, Jean-Marc Bouley’s wines only reluctantly resolved their firm tannins. But this lovely wine from the great 1999 vintage was completely on point. (Now with the son, Thomas Bouley working with meticulous care in the vineyards, this domaine is on the rise, Do not hesitate to buy.)
OTHER POMMARD WINES
The 2010 Domaine de Courcel, Pommard “Grand Clos des Épenots” 1er cru offered pretty red fruit aromas a hint of smokiness leading to fresh, correct red fruit flavors with modest concentration.Plenty of fresh acidity and firm tannins will allow the wine to age gracefully for another 5 to 10 uears.
The 1998 Domaine de Courcel, Pommard “Grand Clos des Épenots” 1er cru had a dusky ruby color with some brown at the rim. Ripe dark plum and red fruit aromas and plenty of earthy notes led to ripe, round red fruit and meaty flavors. Fine acidity and resolved tannins added good balance and structure.
Do you have experiences with Pommard wines? Share your experiences in the comments below and cheers!