2010 Pommard Vaumuriens

Domaine de Courcel started harvesting on the last day of September in 2010, and the fruit, said winemaker Yves Confuron, was barely chaptalized, with grape sugars around 13%. The estate-wide yield was just 25 hectoliters per hectare, but then 2009 wasn't much higher, at 27. Confuron describes the 2010s as fresh, spicy and precise. "The aromas and the type of tannins give the impression of freshness," he told me. "But of course acidity in the fruit does not necessarily equal freshness, as it's too easy to cook the fruit during vinification. When people destem, all the sugars are available to the yeasts, and there can be temperature spikes. By vinifying with whole clusters we slow down the process and are better able to keep fresh fruit." Incidentally, the 2009s here make a strong argument in favor of vendange entier, as the wines boast terrific energy for this very ripe year.