Auxey-Duresses

This prized parcel is east-facing, with very pure limestone soils. It borders Meursault Vireuils and the vines here recently celebrated their 40th birthday. That proximity to Meursault is evident on the nose, which combines ripe citrus and spice with subtle hints of stone-fruit and hazelnuts. There’s a seductive roundness to the mid-palate but it ends taut and mineral, suggesting a healthy lifespan. Drink now to 2024.
Will Heslop, Burgundy Buying Assistant (December 2019)

Rich, deep and purple in colour with an impressive volume of fruit, there’s greater density than the village wine and very good acidity here; this is crunchy but concentrated. Although less seductive than the village Auxey this is a serious wine for the medium term.

Paul Zinetti has replaced Benjamin Leroux as régisseur (general manager) at this famous estate. He has inherited a great position but also, alas, a tradition of hail-affected vintages. With this in mind, Paul has looked for lighter extraction in 2014, with less punching down than previously. He has been with the domaine for several years prior to taking over, so he is fully au fait with these vineyards. The village Auxey is a steal this year.

Ripe purple, with a dense concentration of dark cherry fruit, there is something a touch firmer behind, with more structure, as befits a Premier Cru. The bones are covered by delicious, unctuous fruit. This is a wine with great persistence. Drink 2020-2028.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Paul Zinetti’s second harvest at the domaine has at least given him a few more grapes to play with than 2014 and fruit of exceptional quality. Nonetheless 2015 was once again a very short crop because of the previous hail damage, delivering just one third of what used to be normal. The grapes were mostly de-stemmed, although some whole bunches were used, but always a minority.

The brilliant purple colour is followed by an explosion of wonderfully ripe yet fresh summer fruits and exceptional length. Not for the faint hearted yet easy to fall in love with. Drink 2008-2012.

This is a lovely mid-purple in colour, boasting a beautiful nose of deep red fruit. The palate displays lovely sweet red griotte cherry fruit, followed by a lively but not trenchant acidity behind.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

This was Benjamin Leroux’s last vintage at Domaine du Comte Armand and possibly his smallest yet. Just 18 barrels of Clos des Epeneaux have been made, with a yield of around eight hectolitres per hectare. The vintage began on 25th September with good looking grapes and decent maturity. Benjamin is staying involved to see the vintage into bottle, though otherwise Paul Zinetti is now securely in charge.

A sensual, gorgeous nose is followed by a lovely rich mouthful of ripe fruit which caresses the throat with this Auxey-Duresses from Domaine du Comte Armand. The finish of the wine displays a welcome mineral crispness, showing off this very successful wine.

Glowing a fine pink to purple, this is very fresh Pinot Noir, but has a lovely velvet character too, with crunchy fruit, good density, fresh acidity and very long length. I love this wine.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Volumes at Domaine du Comte Armand were broadly similar to 2010 in 2011, but will be catastrophically low in 2012 as Pommard was one of the hardest hit villages with the poor weather. We must therefore take advantage of Benjamin Leroux’s brilliant range of wines made available this year, from the supposedly lowly Aligoté upwards. Look out for the potential of the fabulous Clos des Epeneaux, which Ben has harnessed to a quality level rarely seen before.

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Production is down to a third of the norm, with only five and a half barrels produced, one of which was new. A blend from two of the village’s best sites – 60 percent Les Breterins and 40 percent Bas de Duresses, the grapes that were harvested were in peak condition. The result is a really pretty wine, with a delicate line of fruit and a twist of spicy grip on the finish. Drink 2019-2023.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The family of the Comte Armand has owned the vineyard of Clos des Epeneaux in Pommard since 1826. The vineyard wasn’t replanted post-phylloxera until 1930, but has since confirmed its rating as one of Pommard’s very finest sites. The modern era began under Pascal Marchand followed by Benjamin Leroux and, from 2014, Paul Zinetti, Benjamin’s second-in-command. Further vineyards were acquired in 1994: Auxey-Duresses, Auxey-Duresses Premier Cru, Volnay and Volnay Frémiets. The 2016 harvest is Paul Zinetti’s third after succeeding Ben Leroux, and a subtle but discernible change is under way. The Clos des Epeneaux’s famous dense, rich, tannic composition, so individual and impressive, is being gently moderated towards a wine that will be accessible a little earlier, while in no way undermining the ageability of one of Burgundy’s great terroirs. The firmest tannins are less evident after only gentle pumping-over and a very limited number of punch- downs. A new de-stemming machine is also delivering much better quality whole berries. This is a vintage which reveals a whole new, sunnier and accommodating aspect of the Clos’s character.

A lovely bright, luminous colour, this has a very pretty nose and enough weight to balance Auxey’s slightly grainy tannins. With a bigger crop, Paul only had space for eight percent whole-bunch in the tank and the  oak component has been kept to 15 percent. Drink 2020-2024.

Paul Zinetti was realistic yet confident in the quality of his 2017s. Such an early harvest, which started in Volnay Frémiets on 3rd September and ended in Auxey on 11th September, provided new challenges which Paul addressed creatively and sympathetically. The wines were fruity and direct but he found that colour and structure were slow to come, so he kept the wine on skins for a week or more after fermentation. There is less whole-bunch this year as the stems weren’t always fully ripe, but his de-stemmer preserves a lot of whole berries anyway. He will bottle all the reds before Christmas without filtration but he will trial some fining to round out the tannins.

This is sourced from two parcels: 0.22 hectares of Les Nampoillons planted in 1974 towards St Romain on stony marl, and Les Closeaux, 0.17 hectares on the Meursault side of the village. Textbook Auxey-Duresses, it has nervy tension behind crisp fruit and acidity. Delicious and mouth-watering. Drink 2021-2024.

Seven barrels were produced, of which one is new. The nose offers ripe red-berry coulis aromas and a touch of blood orange. Paul carried out a very gentle extraction here, preserving the pure fruit and keeping the chalky tannins in check. Creamy and juicy with a long finish. Drink 2021-2026.