2006 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru

This estate harvested in fits and starts in 2007, starting with their Volnay Fremiets on August 30, then stopping for a few days before bringing in the rest of their Volnay and Pommard between September 4 and 9. Then, after picking chardonnay, they harvested Auxey-Duresses on September 17. The finished village wines as well as the Clos des Epeneaux will be under 13% alcohol, said winemaker Benjamin Leroux, who told me he loves wines with moderate alcohol levels. In fact, he prefers 2007 to 2005 because he feels the new vintage is a better example of terroir. "Two thousand five is a monster-a wine that needs 30 years of aging. It has too much of everything. The 2007s have more vitality. They can also be enjoyed early," he told me, "but the Clos des Epeneaux really wants ten years in the bottle." Incidentally, the Clos des Epeneaux is now vinified in separate components by geology rather than by vine age. The young vines will be used to make a Pommard 1er Cru, while the top and bottom parts of the Clos have similar average vine age but different soil make-up. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA and Martin-Scott Wines. Ltd., Lake Success, NY)

Rot was not a big problem at this domain in 2006, said winemaker Benjamin Leroux, as the vines here are not vigorous. July was very hot, "like 2003," and the estate did not do much plowing in the vineyards. The weeds then grew in the rain in August, and the cover crop absorbed a good bit of the excess moisture and kept the grapes from growing too large. Vines in Volnay and Auxey-Duresses avoided botrytis especially well, said Leroux, but he described the level of ripeness in 2006 as uneven, with a big gap between the village vines and the crus. "There were still a lot of pink berries at the beginning of September," he said, adding that, thanks to biodynamic farming practices, there was ultimately very good skin ripeness in 2006. Leroux applied "Preparation 501" to his vines three times before the harvest. This biodynamic solution based on silica helps the vines get rid of their water through "sweating" and aids photosynthesis. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA and Martin-Scott Wines. Ltd., Lake Success, NY)