2019 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru

“We did not have any frost,” winemaker Paul Zanetti explains at the Pommard estate, where he’s reached his tenth vintage anniversary. “It was quite an easy vintage, warm but not too much. There were no real heat waves, but it was hot in July. It was a record yield at around 37hL/ha, the highest since 2014, and it was the same in 2023, though when we pressed, there was less juice than expected. Nevertheless, we have very good quantity and quality. The fruit was perfectly mature with alcohol, about 13.5% and 14.5% for the Clos des Epeneaux and good total acidity. I did not use whole bunches as we don’t have the space in the winery. We did have some stuck ferments. I put the bunches in a fridge at 12° and 13° Celsius, and the yeasts ‘ate’ the sugar quite easily. It was harder in 2020. I did just one pumping over and tried to keep the wines at 28° to 29° Celsius at the end of the alcoholic fermentation. All the wine is in barrel, and I plan to do a longer maturation than in 2021.” I tasted the crown jewel of Clos des Epeneaux, the 5.23-hectare monopole, via separate cuvées per vine age and location, always a fascinating exercise highlighting their differences. The blend, put together in front of me by Zanetti, looks very promising, maybe not the greatest ever made (both the 2017 and 2018 tasted from bottle alongside appear to be the pick of recent vintages). It tends to overshadow their handful of other cuvées. In 2022, I would keep an eye out for the very capable Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru.

“It was a hard season," winemaker Paul Zanetti told me when I visited Comte Armand in the heart of Pommard, opposite the church. “It was very warm, for sure. I go on holiday at the end of July every year. I just wanted to come back and check the vineyard at the beginning of August, and I could see the leaves beginning to fall. In one week the vineyard had changed completely. I had never seen it like this, and I knew we had to be ready [to harvest] in two weeks. The wines are all above 14.5° even though we started picking on August 24. I can feel the impact of the wall around the clos when you compare the Clos des Epeneaux with other vineyards. It was a vintage where you had to really reflect. We did a cold maceration. The yeasts found it difficult to finish the fermentation, but I did not add any cultured yeast – it just meant we had to have a four-week maceration. We did some punch-down as the skin was so ripe. In the end, I cropped at around 25hl/ha, though that’s more than in 2021 at 18hl/ha. Maybe I will do a longer barrel maturation.” This was a fine set of wines, the hidden gem being the overlooked Volnay Fremiets, which this year challenges the supremacy of the Pommard Clos des Epeneaux.

Winemaker Paul Zanetti has overseen some outstanding wines from this Pommard Domaine since joining back in 2010. (Has it really been that long? It seems like yesterday that Benjamin Leroux was showing the wines. Time flies). “For a few years we haven’t had a cool growing season,” he began as we discussed the 2019 in one of the small barrel cellars. “There was a threat of frost in the beginning of the season, but we did not have to burn any straw. [Vine] growth was very quick, which is why it’s important to have a big team at the moment. Flowering took a long time because of the inclement weather, which is why the production was small in addition to the berries being small in size. But the summer was nice, and August was warm. It was easy as there was very little mildew or oïdium. We lost 20% of the yield compared to a normal year, less than 30hl/ha on average, the smallest in Volnay. I started the harvest on 11 September with Volnay Fremiet and finished 17 September. I used more whole bunches in 2019, especially for the Auxey-Duresses, 30-40% as I wanted to have a full tank and bunches were fully ripe. The vinification was quite easy. You had to be careful with the sugar-levels. When you press the wine is not protected, so there is a risk of brettanomyces or volatile acidity. It was the same in 2020. This is why I keep the press in tank. I think we have to reflect on the work in the vineyard, in terms of canopy management and protecting bunches. The 2019s are quite high in alcohol, between 13.6° and 14.3° for the Clos des Epeneaux, but there is plenty of freshness. There is an impact of the clos, the wall, on the alcohol levels. The malolactic was very quick since the sun reduced the level. I will rack just before Christmas and then bottle in January.” This producer’s small portfolio is headlined by their 5.23-hectare monopole of Clos des Épeneaux, but readers should also seek their oft-overlooked cuvées in Volnay and Auxey-Duresses. You will find reviews of both the 2019 in barrel and bottled 2018s. Apropos the Pommard Clos des Épeneaux, Zanetti poured the 2018 and 2017 vintages that confirmed the impressive consistency given the challenges faced in the growing seasons. There are very intense, structured and pure: Pommard predesigned for cellaring.