2005 Pommard

I sampled Pacalet's 2005s with his assistant Nicolas Luquet in his vinification facility in Beaune. Pacalet, who was regisseur at Domaine Prieure-Roch until he started his own operation in 2001, buys fruit from a handful of suppliers, using his own harvesting team to pick the grapes. He makes distinctly idiosyncratic wines in very natural fashion, vinifying only whole clusters. The fermentations typically start after a few days, and he normally does two pigeages per day until the end of the sugar fermentation, at which point he de-cuves rapidly and the malos generally start quickly, due to the absence of sulfur as well as to his "semi-carbonic maceration," which begins to break down the malic acidity. The inclusion of the stems moderates the influence of the warm fermentation temperatures, which routinely reach 35oC, says Luquet. The 2005s had not yet been racked in November, and Luquet told me that Pacalet will only add sulfur at the time of the racking. Pacalet made 100 barrels of red wine in 2005 and 20 of white. He uses very little new oak, "just to renew his barrels," according to Luquet, who told me that Pacalet purchases a lot of once-used barrels from Francois Freres. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY) Also recommended: Pommard (85).