A Hidden Gem in Pommard - Tasting at Domaine Lejeune

11 June 2015: More than 200 years ago at the apex of its fame, Pommard covered over 1,000 ha. Today, it has 321 ha planted, including 116 ha of 28 Premier Cru climats. Pommard, Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges are amongst the 3 best known red wines from Bourgogne. Yet Pommard consistently trades much lower than its more illustrious Côte de Nuits neighbours, despite its earlier days’ reputation.  During the 20s and 30s, the trade was dominated by négociants and domaine bottling was only done by few growers with the financial means to do so, such as Henri Gouges, Hubert de Montille and Marquis d’Angerville. The négociants simply bought all that was produced by the growers and it was not important, or rather it would be an unnecessary distraction to have a Grand Cru from the Pommard village given the reputation of the name. This short-sightedness, coupled with compromised quality in favour of quantity, resulted in bulk prices at 25% below that of Nuits Saint Georges in the mid 1980s.  Following a number of poor quality vintages of 1977, 1980, 1981 and 1984, the fate of Pommard was thus sealed, at least for a long time. A number of inspired growers decided to turn this fate around and the following 20 years have seen some marked improvement in the quality of Pommard. The village has been rewarded with some worthy investments, such as Château de Pommard (purchased by Michael Baum from the Silicon Valley with a new luxury hotel, spa, new cellar and restaurant with Michelin-starred chef all in the pipeline

), and the emergence of some quality fine dining places in Pommard have helped change the impression of sceptics. We are seeing positive price adjustments for Pommard, not least somewhat driven by the rise in prices for Hospices de Beaune auctions and the fact that they had lost 70% of crop in every vintage of the last 3 vintages (2012, 2013 and 2014) due to hail, rot, mildew and coulure.

 

Aubert Lefas

We visited Aubert Lefas at Domaine Lejeune who gave us some background to the application of Les Rugiens and Les Epenots (including Les Grands Epenots, Les Petits Epenots and Clos des Epeneaux) for Grand Cru status. Detailed geology study shows that the mid-slope where the high quality Premier Crus are, is made up of clay-limestone soils, well drained thanks to small stones. For example, there is distinctly more clay at Les Poutures and Les Rugiens, giving rich and mouthfilling wines. The presence of iron in Les Rugiens is also a factor of its superiority in terms of ripeness of vines. Whereas limestone dominates, the wines are more elegant, example being Les Epenots, which tends to be long in the mouth and elegant. Les Rugiens has always been recognized as a top site in Pommard, with the average ripeness at half to 1 degree higher than other climats, and the Bas typically better than the Haut vineyard. Les Epenots due to its size (around 35 ha) could be less consistent than Les Rugiens (about 12 ha) in terms of quality of individual parcels. Growers who have Les Epenots typically have the possibility of blending Les Grands Epenots with the Petits Epenots. Clos des Epeneaux is a monopole of Domaine Comte Armand, across the two climats. If a Grand Cru could be approved in Pommard, this would be extremely good news as there is no question that the entire village would benefit from this promotion - recognition of the improved quality in Pommard overall.

Aubert’s vinification is artisanal – he vinifies in large oak vats, because he said his father-in-law did not have the means to invest in stainless steel vats at the time. Depending on the vintage, he either uses 100% whole stems or manually destems part of it, with the whole cluster portion no less than 60%. During cuvaison, the temperatures range from 18 to 32 degrees. He typically adds carbon dioxide when the must warms to above 20 degrees. During the first 6 hours of cuvaison, oxygen in the grapes could cause oxidation and production of acetic acid, therefore it is important to have some sulphur dioxide. Sulphur dioxide protects the must, while the carbon dioxide from fermenting must protects the whole clusters. For entry level AOC, the cuvaison is typically 10 – 12 days, and up to 25 days for Les Rugiens. If fermentation temperature falls below 20 degrees, he does pigeage to avoid risk of volatile acidity development, to reactivate the fermentation. If quality of crop is not as good, such as in 2013 and 2014, he destems part of it, while maintaining a minimum of 60% whole clusters. A fermenting vat typically has the bottom part filled with whole clusters, with crushed grapes and must at the top, and a mixture of whole clusters and must in the middle. Maturation about 22 – 24 months in barrels. For a vintage like 2013, Aubert only did 22 months of ageing.

 

The wines are linear and show a purity and finesse that belies the richness of the soils of Pommard.  I highly recommend the Pommard Les Rugiens that epitomizes finesse and richness from a village often mistakenly described as rustic and heavy-handed – only 600 bottles were made in 2013, if you can get your hands on a bottle! The Pommard Trois Follots is a very elegant expression of Pommard, while highlighting the purity of the fruit. The Pommard Les Poutures shows more broadness and mouthfilling structure.


The prices at Lejeune have remained reasonably modest compared with the better known domaines in Pommard…..a real gem that is definitely worth seeking out!

The oldest vat in Bourgogne - from 17th Century