Clos Des Epenaux

Just 12hl/ha but that is still better than 2012 or 2013. Made with 30 percent new wood, this is a glorious imperial purple; on the nose, it’s really fragrant, lifted and lovely. To taste, there’s raspberry fruit mixed with alpine strawberries, some darker fruit too, the whole stretching beautifully across the palate. It has medium density and a pure and stylish finish. There’s a little touch of tannin at the back to remind us that it is Pommard – and a very fine one at that.

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.

A rich, dense purple colour, this is magisterial. The nose holds immense possibilities though it may not wish to speak of the detail just yet. This is beautifully homogenous on the palate – a gorgeous, glowing, graceful Epeneaux that just reminds you in the aftertaste that it comes from Pommard. It offers the essence of raspberry but in the sumptuous, red-fruit style of the great vintages of the past. Drink 2024-2040.
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.

This is another tour de force, right from the enticing, rich purple colour onwards. Really exuberant ripe fruit with floral notes are underpinned by a black cherry flavours. A magnificent wine for five to ten years time, although it will certainly last longer than that. Drink 2010-2015

A lovely bright purple with charming mid-red fruit and some darker notes of cherry and black fruit. Suave and smooth with neither the aggressive acidity nor the tough tannins of some Pommard wines in 2013. Superbly crafted.
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.

This blend of the various different cuvées of the Clos is, as ever, even more impressive than its individual parts. The bouquet is very fine, with stylish, vibrant red fruit aromas and lifted notes of spice. Tightly wound yet still with real generosity, this is a great wine in the making. Lay down and try to forget its existence for at least another five years.

This is a brilliant wine, with a mix of vibrant red and deeper black fruit notes. Dancing concentrated fruit covers the acidity and tannins sublimely well. This is a Pommard of exceptional energy as well as harmony.
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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This superb vineyard should make one of the most stylish wines of Pommard, and Benjamin has yet again achieved this in 2008. An entirely red fruit wine, this is seamlessly put together with just a touch of spice and perfectly balanced acidity.

There was only about half the normal yield this year (whatever that means at the moment), with only 30 barrels made. Tasting the separate components of younger (25-year-old) and older (65- to 80-year-old) vines, as well as the vin de presse , really highlighted where Paul is aiming to take the Clos. A new vertical press leaves more berries intact, and thus more sugar. There is an unusual level of suppleness (even in the vin de presse. This is really rather wonderful, a great terroir evolving with the times. Drink 2023-2035.
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.

The Grand Vin is a blend of the various sections of Clos des Epeneaux, including a small percentage of the younger vines. This is a really elegant and perfumed Pommard, with a gloriously harmonious bubble of red fruit and heavenly cherries present throughout and before a long and refined finish. This really is quite terrific!
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

As we have come to expect, Benjamin Leroux has produced a brilliant range of wines here in 2010. The Clos des Epeneaux is now one of the most exciting wines in the Côte de Beaune. A result of Benjamin’s refinement of vineyard work and the plan he has adopted of picking and vinifying according to the geology of different parts of the vineyard, rather than vine age.

Fine, deep colour with a noticeably reserved, backward nose. Impressive energy on the palate, good fruit weight and unusual depth of flavour. Classy, exceptional long and elegant throughout.
(Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Buyer - 10-Sept-2009)

Burgundy 2009 Best Buys - Premier Crus Wines
If there was a Grand Cru in Pommard this would undoubtedly be it, and in years like 2009 you could make an argument for it. This is where Ben Leroux really puts his genius to work; the completeness is overwhelming. As in 2005, Ben has crafted something quite magical.
(Joss Fowler, Cellar Plan Account Manager)

A very intense, multi-layered nose reaches down to a profound palate and, although this is evidently very rich in fruit, there is something very stylish about it. There is a vast range of fruit on the palate, even a hint of licorice, leading to an extraordinarily vibrant finish. This may be Benjamin Leroux’s best ever Clos des Epeneaux.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)

As usual, older and younger vines are harvested and vinified separately. Tasted apart, the junior wine is lush and very driven by red fruit, the senior partner principally shows the density of old vines. Essayed in a 55-45 young-to-old-vine blend, the dark sweet fruit of the old vines is to the fore but kept mobile by the energy of the young vines. A very impressive double act. Drink 2025-2033.

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.