It was a chilly Thursday morning as we started our first appointment in Pommard. My French companion found his car frozen in the morning and it took him a while to get his engine started.
I like being in burgundy; everyone seems to know each other. Even if you ask a roadside construction worker or an elderly lady who just finished her marketing for directions, they always seem to know which way to go. And so in spite of the lack of obvious signage, we arrived at Clos-des-Epeneaux ahead of time.
I like being in burgundy; everyone seems to know each other. Even if you ask a roadside construction worker or an elderly lady who just finished her marketing for directions, they always seem to know which way to go. And so in spite of the lack of obvious signage, we arrived at Clos-des-Epeneaux ahead of time.
Comte Armand is a historical and highly esteemed domaine in Pommard. The current proprietor, Vicomte Gabriel, is a lawyer in his fifties who lives mainly in Paris. The domaine is entirely managed by the young Benjamin Leroux, successor of Pascal Marchand, the man previously credited for the resurrection of this domaine.
The 5.3 ha Clos-des-Epeneaux is an enclosed vineyard blessed with some of the most precious vines in Burgundy of which some are more than 70 years old. Technically speaking, the “Clos” lies between the Petits-Epenots on the Beaune border and the Grands-Epenots towards the northern end of Pommard. It is often said that Clos-des-Epeneaux produces the most unique wines of the village.
It was Pascal Marchand who was responsible for the quality turnaround in this estate between 1985-1995. His departure in 1999 was succeeded by another very talented young man, Benjamin Leroux.
Leroux is unquestionably the brightest younger generation winemaker I have met in this trip. Despite his youthful age, he is well traveled and is highly experienced. He spent his earlier working years at Domaine Drouhin in Oregon, followed by later at Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux’s St.-Estèphe, and then Giesen Estate in New Zealand before returning to Burgundy (he worked for Maison Louis Jadot for several years prior joining Comte Armand). Leroux has in fact been working on and off for this Domaine since 1991. So it was not surprising that he is very familiar with the vineyards and continues many of the practices of his predecessor.
Leroux has clearly benefited from his overseas experience and is stock-full of knowledge of both wine worlds. He came across as someone who has the ability to get the most out of his raw materials. Leroux continues the practices of biodynamic in his vineyard, but was quick to point out that it is more a philosophy than a technique. “The fundamentals of biodynamie is organic farming,” said Leroux. He believes that biodynamic helps to bring out the best grapes from his vineyard. Since it was introduced, many critics felt that there is additional minerality found in Clos-des-Epeneaux. Leroux credits the sound acidity that he has successfully coaxed out of his fruits that highlights the mineral quality and balance in his wines.
Leroux frequently meets with his fellow winemaking colleagues such as Dominique Lafon of Comte Lafon, Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive and Jean-Louis Trapet of Domaine Trapet to share their experiences and exchange thoughts on biodynamic. He told me that they are not part of Demeter or Biodivin, which is a certified biodynamic producer organization whose membership includes names of famous winemakers such as Michel Chapoutier, Lalou-Bize-Leroy, Nicolas Joly, Zind-Humbrecht…etc. He explained to me that in order to be certified by such an organization as a biodynamic producer, he would be bound by certain techniques which may or may not be suitable for your vineyard. “Biodynamic is the result of understanding your vineyard – each vineyard is uniquely its own and should be treated differently. Nothing ought to be conventional, and applying any standard rules or techniques will only diminish the uniqueness of the vineyard.”
Leroux also a believer of sélection masale, or mass selection. When asked why he is opposed to clonal selection, he explained that clonal select was designed to control yield and treat diseases. However, quite frequently this may treat one problem but gives way to another. He said that Clos-des-Epeneaux is surrounded with walls (therefore called Clos), and so nothing goes out or in. “It is an enclosed community of old vines, and over the years the vines have fought and developed an immune system against diseases within this surrounded environment. They are highly conditioned within their domestic habitat and by making sélection masale out of those parent vines will further improve the population of virus-resistant vines,” said Leroux. He continued, “Introducing clones is like introducing a foreign agent to the vineyard and may alter the protective shield of its community; hence may make it susceptible to new diseases.” Leroux also stressed that sélection masale should only propagate from the same vineyard. The mass selection cutting should never come from another source or it might jeopardize the vineyard and potentially putting the vine at risk of foreign viruses. In short, this should be a highly localized practice.
The 5.3 ha Clos-des-Epeneaux is an enclosed vineyard blessed with some of the most precious vines in Burgundy of which some are more than 70 years old. Technically speaking, the “Clos” lies between the Petits-Epenots on the Beaune border and the Grands-Epenots towards the northern end of Pommard. It is often said that Clos-des-Epeneaux produces the most unique wines of the village.
It was Pascal Marchand who was responsible for the quality turnaround in this estate between 1985-1995. His departure in 1999 was succeeded by another very talented young man, Benjamin Leroux.
Leroux is unquestionably the brightest younger generation winemaker I have met in this trip. Despite his youthful age, he is well traveled and is highly experienced. He spent his earlier working years at Domaine Drouhin in Oregon, followed by later at Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux’s St.-Estèphe, and then Giesen Estate in New Zealand before returning to Burgundy (he worked for Maison Louis Jadot for several years prior joining Comte Armand). Leroux has in fact been working on and off for this Domaine since 1991. So it was not surprising that he is very familiar with the vineyards and continues many of the practices of his predecessor.
Leroux has clearly benefited from his overseas experience and is stock-full of knowledge of both wine worlds. He came across as someone who has the ability to get the most out of his raw materials. Leroux continues the practices of biodynamic in his vineyard, but was quick to point out that it is more a philosophy than a technique. “The fundamentals of biodynamie is organic farming,” said Leroux. He believes that biodynamic helps to bring out the best grapes from his vineyard. Since it was introduced, many critics felt that there is additional minerality found in Clos-des-Epeneaux. Leroux credits the sound acidity that he has successfully coaxed out of his fruits that highlights the mineral quality and balance in his wines.
Leroux frequently meets with his fellow winemaking colleagues such as Dominique Lafon of Comte Lafon, Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive and Jean-Louis Trapet of Domaine Trapet to share their experiences and exchange thoughts on biodynamic. He told me that they are not part of Demeter or Biodivin, which is a certified biodynamic producer organization whose membership includes names of famous winemakers such as Michel Chapoutier, Lalou-Bize-Leroy, Nicolas Joly, Zind-Humbrecht…etc. He explained to me that in order to be certified by such an organization as a biodynamic producer, he would be bound by certain techniques which may or may not be suitable for your vineyard. “Biodynamic is the result of understanding your vineyard – each vineyard is uniquely its own and should be treated differently. Nothing ought to be conventional, and applying any standard rules or techniques will only diminish the uniqueness of the vineyard.”
Leroux also a believer of sélection masale, or mass selection. When asked why he is opposed to clonal selection, he explained that clonal select was designed to control yield and treat diseases. However, quite frequently this may treat one problem but gives way to another. He said that Clos-des-Epeneaux is surrounded with walls (therefore called Clos), and so nothing goes out or in. “It is an enclosed community of old vines, and over the years the vines have fought and developed an immune system against diseases within this surrounded environment. They are highly conditioned within their domestic habitat and by making sélection masale out of those parent vines will further improve the population of virus-resistant vines,” said Leroux. He continued, “Introducing clones is like introducing a foreign agent to the vineyard and may alter the protective shield of its community; hence may make it susceptible to new diseases.” Leroux also stressed that sélection masale should only propagate from the same vineyard. The mass selection cutting should never come from another source or it might jeopardize the vineyard and potentially putting the vine at risk of foreign viruses. In short, this should be a highly localized practice.
Over the years Leroux has slowly replanted his older, less productive vineyards using such methods. Today almost 90% of his vineyard is planted with sélection masale. The remaining few rows of the vines, which were earlier planted with clonal select, has worked out well and got along with their neighbors. As they did not cause any problems, he felt therefore there is no need to change this.
I asked Leroux if he conducts leaf pulling, which is a part of canopy management to improve grapes exposure to sunlight as well as air circulation to prevent diseases such as mildew. To this, he made an interesting remark, “In Clos-des-Epeneaux, we trained our canopy high to maximize photosynthesis. It is equally important not to remove any leaf during ripening periods as each leaf plays an important role in the photosynthesis process in order to ripen the grapes evenly.” He also told me later that, like Henri Jayer, he does not believing in green-harvest. “If you need to control the yield, you should start them early, that is, when the vine has not obtained the knowledge of the shoot. Once the cane starts developing, the vine will acknowledge and cater the necessary nutrient and strength to grow toward grape bunches. Cutting them now will ruin the balance of such distribution and potentially speed up the ripening of the remaining grapes. You are unlikely to have balance grapes from such a practice.” Leroux keeps five buds per vine with an average crop of 26 hl/ha.
I asked Leroux if he conducts leaf pulling, which is a part of canopy management to improve grapes exposure to sunlight as well as air circulation to prevent diseases such as mildew. To this, he made an interesting remark, “In Clos-des-Epeneaux, we trained our canopy high to maximize photosynthesis. It is equally important not to remove any leaf during ripening periods as each leaf plays an important role in the photosynthesis process in order to ripen the grapes evenly.” He also told me later that, like Henri Jayer, he does not believing in green-harvest. “If you need to control the yield, you should start them early, that is, when the vine has not obtained the knowledge of the shoot. Once the cane starts developing, the vine will acknowledge and cater the necessary nutrient and strength to grow toward grape bunches. Cutting them now will ruin the balance of such distribution and potentially speed up the ripening of the remaining grapes. You are unlikely to have balance grapes from such a practice.” Leroux keeps five buds per vine with an average crop of 26 hl/ha.
Before we began our tasting, Leroux cautioned us that some of his wines had just been racked, and so the wine may suffer from shock due to such major shifting. 2004 Auxey-Duresses offered an expressive nose, with fresh red fruits and sappiness. Profoundly sexy, with good structured core and fruit purity. Leroux added, “2004 is a balanced vintage, with upfront fruit, and features more red fruits. It is not a big year, but rather a delightful wine to enjoy upon release.” 2004 Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru (from a blend of Les Bréterins and Bas du Duresses with vine age between 35-75-year-old on a soil of rock bed that featured more marl) showed a tighter core, with a good core of acidity in a similar red-fruited, sappy profile. Denser in the palate and more obviously structured than the earlier bottle. 2004 Volnay villages came across as more feminine with less richness but more ripeness consisting of high-toned dark raspberries fruit. This parcel of vineyard is from two-thirds clay, one-third limestone soil with an average vine age of 8 to 20 years old. 2004 Volnay “Frémiets’ is denser and sweeter on the nose. The palate clearly shows more volume with velvety, seamless feel that came across less lively and with more obvious weight. The previous acidity was not found in this cuvée and neither did the usual sappiness one tends to find from this domaine’s wines. When I told Leroux that this was clearly a different wine from all his previous samples, he admitted to me that this was the only parcel which was situated at the top of the slopes of his Volnay vineyards and was affected by hail. He was actually surprised that I spotted it as he claimed to have done severe sorting, or triage to minimize the rot caused by hail damaged grape – goût de grêle. Only two barrels were made and he agreed with me that the sweetness without a cleansing sappiness is clearly a result of dehydrated grapes.
The following wines served were the component wines for Clos-des-Epeneaux Pommard 1er Cru. Due to different soil types within the Clos, various inclinations, as well as the age of the vine, each plot ripened quite different. Leroux treated them separately before concocting his final blend. Leroux does not perform cold maceration but rather post ferment maceration, with 100% destalk and whole-cluster fermentation without crushing the grapes. The vinification and maceration process usually lasts for three weeks. The finished wine is aged in small barrels, out of which 40% are new for the Clos-des-Epeneaux. 2004 malolactic lasted quite long, which explains why some of the wines actually had just been racked. Leroux generally filters the gross lees remaining from the barrels while restoring the finer lees back to the racked wine. 2004 component wine #1 (from young vines of 20-25 year-old) offers high-toned dark raspberries, good suppleness, more showy and volume, good earth but also displayed some of goût de grêle aspect(?) with less sap and freshness. 2004 component wine #2 (from young vines of 26-50 year-old - not racked) showed some reductive nose with a more reserved personality. Higher pitched with better acid-spine in a restrained and elegant way emphasizing good red pinot fruits. Since the whole village was touched by hail, these first two cuvées made from fruits coming from the top of the slopes were in fact affected by hail to some degree. 2004 component wine #3 (from vines at similar age, but coming from the bottom of the slope - racked) displays more muscle and firmer frame. The wine unveiled the purity and structured core typical of this domaine with better presence of minerality and sappiness. 2004 component wine #4 (from 70+ year-old vines) displayed an obviously riper and darker fruits. More layered and textured with better density and richness. In spite of that, the wine is well-pitched and possesses good transparency. Leroux told me that, although the parcel of Clos-des-Epeneaux old vines tend to ripen more slowly, the ripening window is actually short. A close monitoring is therefore necessary to avoid harvesting overripe fruit. After we have finished tasting all the four component wines, Leroux presented me with a proposed blend for 2004 Clos-des-Epeneaux. This now indeed offers more grace and elegance, with lovely red raspberries, rose-petals and minerality. The palate was very fine and there was a good level of concentration. The wine is relatively shy due to the well-focused acidity, but in a delicate way that closely resembles the 2000, but perhaps in a more refined and less earthy way. I guess my enthusiasm must have impressed Leroux. He later opened up the 2003, 2002 & 2001 for my comparison. I guessed the 2003 Clos-des-Epeneaux right away before Leroux even announced it. Torrefaction ripeness of high-toned dark raspberries and a note of raisins. The confectionery sweet palate made it lush and seamless, but the wine did not taste pruney nor over-the-top. Instead, it actually had a good pitch and balance. The finish, however, did show some dehydrated sweetness and the tannins also came across as chalky. 2002 Clos-des-Epeneaux was clearly a different animal altogether. The nose showed an interesting faint nuance of “animal” in addition to the black cherry fruit. Similarly elegant like 2004, but with a better “punch” and sappiness than the former vintage. This is clearly more structured and forceful, but at the moment the wine is still at its infancy, an awkward stage. The same wine I tasted some time back after 4-5 hours decanting was more promising and clearly displayed a better density and a scale unmatched by 2004. Both Leroux and I loved the 2001. It has the obvious mid-palate intensity not seen from the previous wines. 2001 Clos-des-Epeneaux offered blackberries and cherry fruits in addition to more pronounced earth notes. More pigmented with obvious structure, yet still, there was a good level of sap and minerality.
What impresses me most about this domaine is that it completely changed the way I think about Pommard. Most Pommard I’ve come across show obvious rustic and sturdy toughness. They often remind me as the tannic version of Nuits-St.-Georges with darker fruits. The incredible raw materials plus the immense talents of young Leroux showcase Pommard at an unprecedented level. Clos-des-Epeneaux is a highly sophisticated Pommard. With its finesse, high pitch and minerality it could easily fool any expert as a wine coming from the Côte-de-Nuits.
What impresses me most about this domaine is that it completely changed the way I think about Pommard. Most Pommard I’ve come across show obvious rustic and sturdy toughness. They often remind me as the tannic version of Nuits-St.-Georges with darker fruits. The incredible raw materials plus the immense talents of young Leroux showcase Pommard at an unprecedented level. Clos-des-Epeneaux is a highly sophisticated Pommard. With its finesse, high pitch and minerality it could easily fool any expert as a wine coming from the Côte-de-Nuits.
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