2014 Pommard Vaumuriens

The small amount of fruit that remained after the late-June hailstorm ripened normally, benefitting from hot weather at the beginning of September, noted Yves Confuron, who added that he doesn’t find a major difference in quality between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits wines in 2014 "The tannins are copious and of high quality, sometimes with a bit of roughness," Confuron added, "and a slight imbalance from the hail gave an extra measure of concentration to the Pommards and reinforced their structures" Confuron bottled the Domaine de Courcel 2014s at the end of September of 2016

The small amount of fruit that remained after the late-June hailstorm ripened normally, benefitting from hot weather at the beginning of September, noted Yves Confuron, who added that he doesn’t find a major difference in quality between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits wines in 2014. "The tannins are copious and of high quality, sometimes with a bit of roughness," Confuron added, "and a slight imbalance from the hail gave an extra measure of concentration to the Pommards and reinforced their structures." Confuron bottled the Domaine de Courcel 2014s at the end of September of 2016.

The grapes in 2014 were rich in polyphenols but not in sugars, said Yves Confuron, as the rainfall in August "de-blocked" the tannin polyphenols. Always a very late picker, Confuron started on September 22, with potential alcohol levels between 12. 5% and 13%, but he still chaptalized a bit to prolong the fermentations.

The estate made barely ten hectoliters per hectare due to the hailstorm at the end of June, and Confuron described the wines as "full, fresh and precise, with the wines higher up in the hierarchy showing greater tenderness." He noted that many estates were bottling their 2014s very quickly, and that these "Pinots Nouveaux" would show little in the way of terroir. A couple of Courcel's 2014s were at the tail end of their secondary fermentations and were a bit dry on the finish owing to the remaining malic acidity, but their ripeness and intensity were already apparent--and particularly impressive in the context of the vintage.