WB Weekly Burgundy Appellation Series Week 13: Pommard

WINE TALK
#1

Hello again and welcome to Week 13 of our Wine Berserkers Weekly Burgundy Appellation Tasting Series. This week, we will focus on the wines and producers of Pommard.

I will later fill in a few excerpts. From now, let’s get to some tasting notes and impressions of Pommard.


[cheers.gif]

Cheers

Ray

#2

I tried my first b ( of 3 ) Pommard ( village ) 99 by C. Amand last week.

Due to my very limited experience with Pommard I would said the wine is ready but it may need 2 or 3 years to improve and to show its best. [cheers.gif]

#3

In recent years, it seems as if Pommard is a commune one passes through to reach Volnay. It has not always been this way, as Pommard has been a revered name throughout most of the history of the Cote d’Or. But today, Pommard is somewhat out of favor compared to several other communes. I believe this is partly due to the character of the wine, structured and austere in youth, and taking a rather considerable number of years to show full maturity. So Pommard clashes with today’s penchant for instant gratification.

Another factor may be that Pommard has been a victim of its own fame. Back before appellation controlee in the 1930’s, the widespread fame of Pommard led many merchant houses to label all sorts of stuff as Pommard. So perhaps the corruption of the commune name caused Burgundy buyers to feel Pommard was a risky wine to buy.

Regardless of the reason, Pommard’s lack of status creates opportunities for savvy consumers with patience… high quality terroir driven Pommard is available at very fair prices to those who seek it out.

Full and sturdy and structured in youth, Pommard is a wine to be contemplated, a wine to be taken seriously, IMO. Hedonists seeking a tasty drink are advised to look elsewhere. Burgheads seeking powerful, intense wines that speak clearly of the soil and rocks where they are grown can find great rewards in Pommard. And the best examples exhibit an uncanny ability to show an elegant side once they reach majority.

It must be said that the somewhat stern structure of Pommard means heavy-handed winemaking can produce wines that may be more impressive than they are enjoyable. If Berry asks for comparisons to other villages, my answer would be… Barolo.

Pommard has about 337 hectares of vineyard…
212 ha village level (about 93,000 cases of wine annually)
125 ha of 1er cru (50,000 cases on average)

There are 28 premier crus in Pommard. Rugiens and Epenots account for 5 of them, and are the finest crus of Pommard. Les Rugiens lies to the south of the village (toward Volnay). Les Epenots and the Clos are to the north (toward Beaune).

Grand Crus:
(None)

Quasi-Grand 1er Crus:
Rugiens-Bas (5.83 ha)

Elite 1er Crus:
Rugiens-Hauts (6.83 ha)
Clos des Epeneaux (5.23 ha monopole of Domaine Comte Armand)
Petits Epenots (15.14 ha excluding Clos des Epeneaux)
Grands Epenots (10.15 ha excluding Clos des Epeneaux)

Other 1er Crus… After the elite crus listed above come 23 others, and my honorable mention would go to Les Pezerolles on the Beaune side, and to Les Jarolieres and Les Fremiers adjoining Volnay (in both proximity and character).

Regarding Rugiens Bas and Hauts, the relative superiority of Bas is widely recognized, and yet many bottles are labeled generically as Les Rugiens. This is inevitable when a domaine has vines in both sectors, or has vines only in the less-esteemed Hautes sector. There is a trend, however, toward greater differentiation. De Montille and Billard-Gonnet have begun to label as Rugiens-Bas. And several recent books provide more detail about who has vines where, so Rugiens will in fact be Rugiens-Bas from Michel Gaunoux and Aleth Girardin and Joseph Voillot, according to these sources. Domaine Louis Jadot’s Pommard Les Rugiens is another 100% Bas wine, but caution is advised because I’ve also seen non-domaine Les Rugiens from Maison Jadot, likely a blend of Bas and Hautes. Look for the words “Domaine Louis Jadot” on the label if you are seeking Rugiens-Bas.

Similarly, many producers do not label their Epenots as Petits or Grands, so it is difficult to get a handle on the differences between these climats. The pure heart of the matter, though, is Clos des Epeneaux, located in the center and overlapping the other two climates, with the larger portion of the Clos lying in Petits Epenots and less than 1 ha in Grands Epenots.

#4

Lew…I agree with your post No. 3 in general; but I would like to add ( and much ) prefer that my hunting grounds for sturdy and structured wine in youth is : 1ieme crus in P-Verg and g-crus around Corton hill.

That being said…please do not take too much notice of my personally opinion as I am bias against Pommard [cheers.gif] as I own very few of them.



Regardless of the reason, Pommard’s lack of status creates opportunities for savvy consumers with patience… high quality terroir driven Pommard is available at very fair prices to those who seek it out.

Full and sturdy and structured in youth, Pommard is a wine to be contemplated, a wine to be taken seriously, IMO. Hedonists seeking a tasty drink are advised to look elsewhere. Burgheads seeking powerful, intense wines that speak clearly of the soil and rocks where they are grown can find great rewards in Pommard. And the best examples exhibit an uncanny ability to show an elegant side once they reach majority.

#5

I’ll admit I havn’t drunk many Pommards but as a general trend I don’t find them any more austere or structured in youth than Volnays. For example a recent Joseph Voillot Pommard Les Rugiens that I drank was textbook elegance and prettiness. The epitome of finessed burgundy.

#6

I didn’t used to think much of Ppmmard, until a couple years ago, I bought a case of 1987 Pommards from Casa del Vino. They have all been wonderful so far; i have two or three left. Pommard just needs age to develop a balanced aroma and taste.

#7

Berry…righton with your following comment :

I don’t find them any more austere or structured in youth than Volnays.

I asked De Montille why he quite ofens ( or many times ) let us tasted his Pommard before his Volnay. He always smiled back and said : they are very closed [wink.gif] .

#8

Peter, I think there are close parallels between Pommard and Corton, so you will get no disagreement from me.

Berry, what vintage?

#9

Sorry, 2008. 2006 was like that too.

#10

And worth calling into question. In my mind, and I think it is the general opinion, de Courcel makes the greatest Rugiens, and yet it comes from the upper portion. I asked Yves Confuron, who makes the wines at de Courcel about it, and he says he thinks it goes back to a time when the upper portion of the vineyard was not planted. Don’t overlook the fact that there are several outstanding producers in the Bas portion, so de Courcel’s superiority cannot be said to be due to lax practices of all the producers of Bas.

#11

I like Lew’s overview. Pommard is the closest to Barolo and drinking them side by side can offer little challenge and is good way to compare the two, drinking a Volnay would not work. On the other hand I have had some very elegant Rugiens. Another comparison would be Gevrey/Pommard to Chambolle/Volnay, though I do agree Pommard is closer to Corton than Gevrey, though Pommard generally has firmer tannins. Cheers Mike

#12

Hey, Mike, what a great tasting of six wines…
Gevrey, Pommard, Barolo…
Chambolle, Volnay, Barbaresco.

#13

Probably stick to 1er’s to give the Pommards and Volnays a chance and let the Piedmonts impress… [drinkers.gif]

#14

I did a tasting of Burgs and Piedmont once at my City Club tasting lunch venue. It was at least 6 or 8 years ago. Double blind. I cannot remember the wines I served, but the consensus conclusion was that both types are way up the scale among the best wine types. You know, as good as Napa Cabs and Bordeaux (the normal wines that most of that group buy and drink regularly).

#15

Lew, agree, I certainly rate Barolo/Barbaresco as one of the great single variety “generic” wines along with Burgundy, ahead of all others. Though the best from Bordeaux, Rhone, Spain, Brunello di Montalcino, anywhere… can equal, they are just generically not as interesting IMO. Cheers Mike

#16

Lew, very nice Pommard overview.

My limited experience with Pommard (2 bottles in the past year) surprised me a little bit as they were more finessed and approachable than expected (similar to Berry’s observations) given the reputation for the commune. They were a 2002 Moissenet-Bonnard Epenots and a 2006 Voillot Pezerolles.

The Moissenet-Bonnard was a doubly pleasant surprise as it was really quite lovely and I was/am unfamiliar with that producer. I think I bought it blindly on release when our local retailer went deep on '02s because it was reasonably priced. I’m wondering if they are a consistently high-quality producer flying under the radar, or if the example I tried was a sparkling exception rather than the rule. They have a decent description on their website (Domaine currently run by Henri Lamarche’s grandson), but they must not be widely available/sold in the U.S. as their domaine website is the first one that pops up on a Google search, unlike most domaines whose own websites are buried under dozens of sites selling or reviewing their wines. Has anybody else tried their wines?

#17

I have never been terribly enamored with Pommard–I’m not particularly attracted to heavier, more structured or tannic burgundy, although a few Rugiens have impressed (and although I love Barolo). Clos des Epeneaux often seems too tannic and oaked for my palate. But what happens is that I now rarely drink them, so it’s a little hard to know if the opinion still holds. and i suspect very few of them had enough age to shine. I’ll be interested to see what others have to post, particularly about older wines.

#18

John, I’m not sure the descriptor “heavier” fits with my perception of Pommard, although structured and tannic I agree with, as a generalization. I do believe Comte Armand Clos des Epeneaux might fit the “heavier” word during the era of Pascal Marchand being in charge, 1985-1998. Above I wrote this…
“It must be said that the somewhat stern structure of Pommard means heavy-handed winemaking can produce wines that may be more impressive than they are enjoyable.” My thoughts were squarely on Marchand’s wines when I wrote that. I think the Comte Armand wines are better in 1999 and subsequent years, just IMO.

Regarding several posts observing that some wines are not particularly structured… perhaps a case of the reputation of the appellation is not fully deserved, or perhaps the exceptions prove the rule?? For the 2006’s and 2008’s mentioned, obviously these are wines tasted very young, with layers of babyfat, before the wines enter a shut down period. I do think these comments are very interesting to me, as I have not tasted as much Pommard shortly after release as I have some other communes.

#19

Antonio’s La Paulee tasteoff included:
06 Charmes-Chambertin, Clos de Beze and Richebourg vs.
2 x 06 Barolo and an 05 Barbaresco.

The Barbaresco was tricky but most others were fairly obvious. I like the idea of throwing in a young Pommard and maybe even a Corton. In general, I’d expect older Barolos and Burgs to have more commonality.

Although my experience with Pommards is considerably less than many here, I continue to question the automatic descriptors that paint them as brutish workhorses. There are certainly firm examples but I’ve had a fair number that were disarmingly smooth and feminine.

RT

#20

When I think about it a little more, my impression of Pommard has been more on the order of “four square” and lacking in complexity than tannic blockbusters. There’s a reasonably good chance my opinion is misguided as once you acquire a bias like that, you tend to go elsewhere for your wines. I’ll be interested to see what people have to say as this thread goes on.