Les Fremiets

The Premier Cru Volnay is always the first wine to be picked and the 2009 from Domaine du Comte Armand has ripe cherries and raspberries on the nose, accompanying a wealth of soft and graceful fruit throughout.

An ethereal, sensual nose shows some whole bunches here before a tighter and more controlled structure emerges towards the back of the palate. With a lovely long finish it is a delicious wine once again.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Vines planted in 1950 make up 40 percent of the blend and, as last year, there are only two barrels, and no new oak this year. Paul had to use 10 percent whole bunches to help fill the cuve , as it’s very hard to work with a half-full tank. The wine has a wonderful aroma of violets and wild rose, heady and intoxicating, but the vineyard’s proximity to Pommard peeps through on the finish, with iron-rich assertiveness. Drink 2021-2026.
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.

This early-ripening parcel is always picked first. Some vines are nearly 90 years old, and others 35 years old, with the crop a healthy 50hl/ha. The resulting wine is beautifully heady and perfumed. It’s voluminous and sensual, but with precise, chalky tannins. Drink 2022-2028.