Domaine Comte Armand in Pommard has been under the ownership of the same family in an unbroken line since before the French revolution, an extreme rarity in Burgundy. Until 1994 the domaine owned only one vineyard, their famous 13-acre Monopole Clos des Epeneaux – an outstanding 1er Cru in Pommard. The current Comte Armand – Vicomte Gabriel Armand, is a Parisian lawyer who has continued the family tradition of relying on resident-managers, or regisseurs, to conduct all of the domaine’s affairs.
In 1999 they handed the keys to 23 year-old Benjamin Leroux, a promising local winemaking prodigy who has risen to earn a reputation among the world’s best. Ben completed the transition to Biodynamic farming for the estate.
94 Points Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux has gained in depth and dimension with élevage and showed very well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with an expressive, youthfully fruit-driven bouquet of raspberries, cherries, candied peel and rose petals, framed by a subtle touch of new oak. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy, with succulent acids and elegant tannins. While this isn’t as rich, muscular or gourmand as the 2018, it’s an immensely seductive wine that will drink well comparatively young—though readers should still plan on exercising at least a decade’s patience.
93-95 Points Vinous
The 2017 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru was tasted from different sectors of the vineyard. The first sample, tasted directly from tank, comes from two parcels, one at the bottom part of the clos populated by 45- to 65-year-old vines on clay-rich soils, and another located in a plot of 35- to 38-year-old vines. This has a precise, focused bouquet of black cherries, bilberry, a touch of oyster shell and just a hint of blue fruit. The 30% new oak is neatly integrated. The medium-bodied palate shows supple tannins laced with a fine bead of acidity. It exerts a gentle grip and feels quite saline toward the finish. A second sample from limestone soils demonstrates a little more amplitude and a higher percentage of red fruit, not to mention a silkier finish, while a third sample from 86- to 98-year-old vines provides the floral scents and the persistency, perhaps the intellect, of what will be the final blend. This does not possess quite the persistency of the greatest Clos des Epeneaux that I have encountered, yet it is undoubtedly a beautifully made wine.