Pommard
Les Vaumuriens 2017
The little village of Pommard is jealously guarded by its vineyards, on the flanks of the slope.
The fame of the nectar produced here goes back centuries: for indeed, as long ago as the Middle Ages,
the wines of Pommard were being shipped to the Popes of Avignon…
Origin
Between Beaune and Volnay are the vast vineyards of Pommard, extending out on either side of a monumental coomb. This gives rise to two types of wine: from vines grown on the hill on the Beaune side, and from those originating in the slopes and ‘plunging’ down towards Volnay.
This is the side on which Les Vaumuriens can be found, resting on a mixture of clay and limestone. The soil gives the wine a solid attack in the mouth, and a great elegance at the finish. In old French – and the term is entirely appropriate in this case – ‘Vaumuriens’ describes a narrow, steep-sided valley very high up the hill. The plot is very steep and hilly, and is located in one of the coolest areas of the appellation.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: clay soil rich in iron oxide.
Orientation: East / North-East
Surface area under vine: 0.4338 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 32 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 45 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 15 September 2017.
The grapes were handpicked. They were sorted a first time in the vineyard and again on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the grapes were 50% destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration with 50% whole bunches of 18 days of which 6 days cold (12 ° C): Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used).Vinification without sulfur. 3 punchings of the cap.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 12 months with no racking using a proportion of 50% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a very delicate touch of oak to the wine.
Bottling
Bottling: The wine was not fined but was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in September 2018.
Number of bottles: 1,862.
Vintage
2017 – Finesse
The growing cycle was thrown off-kilter by a very cold winter, late spring frost, then optimal conditions for rapid flowering, sporadic hail, and summer drought. Harvesting began in early September in the sun, and after several lean years, the vines finally produced abundant grapes, although with significant differences in maturity between whites and reds and from one region to another, which called for strict sorting.
Ageing potential: from 7 to 10 years.
Tasting notes
The color is bright garnet red. The very intense nose exudes aromas of small red berries embellished with some notes of violets. On the palate, this wine of a beautiful freshness is quite far from the standards of the appellation, reveals a very round mouth, supported by velvety tannins.
