Tasted in Pommard with Paul Zinetti, 05 November 2021.
Comte Armand – Domaine des Epeneaux
7 Rue de la Mairie
21630 Pommard
Tel: +33 3 80 24 70 50
www.domaine-comte-armand.com
More reports with Domaine Comte Armand
Paul Zinetti on 2021:
“(Groans!) A very small vintage; frost, wet, some mildew but not much oïdium. So lower yields, lower alcohol but the wines show finesse, so we will see, but it was a lot of work last year for not much, maybe 18 hl/ha – you don’t really register how little there is until you start filling the barrels!”
Paul Zinetti on 2020:
“It was a hot one. Our harvest started already on the 24th August. Still with a modest volume of just 25 hl/ha and that’s because there wasn’t much juice. You couldn’t get much riper but the acidity is still present – I think I will do a longer elevage, probably not racking until near the harvest next year. I didn’t use a lot of whole-clusters, maybe a bit more than 10%, our yeasts struggled a bit with the levels of sugar so the fermentations took their time – cool starting as I prefer to extract early, before there’s too much alcohol.”
The wines…
All the reds at virtually 14.2-14.6° and black as night. But they are good – and the Clos could be great!
2020 Auxey-Duresses
From l’Argillas – a single parcel. Harvested at the end of the campaign
Of course lots of colour. Deep, round, exaggerated by a little reduction. Round in the mouth too, fine-grained tannin framing the flavours but with quite a vibrant middle and finishing flavour – dark flavour but not a dark mood – this is open, beautifully structured and delicious.
2020 Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru
Assembly of Bretrins (two-thirds) with chalky soil and Bas des Duresses where there’s more clay and soil depth. But still light soils. Grapes vinified together.
Similar to the last but with even more width and textural depth to the aroma. Much silkier texture, more direct too, the finishing fruit is redder. Slowly, slowly fading.
2020 Volnay
A blend of Grand Champ and Famines
A modestly reductive depth of aroma but this nose is quite silken. Wider, modestly textural from the tannin but hardly any grain. Really a juicy finish from this – thats a lovely attractive finish. The last drops in the glass are pure and lovely
2020 Volnay 1er Fremiets
from two parcels – one of young vines of 30 years, the other 90.
A little more width coupled with extra freshness for this nose. Much fresher intensity here – really super energy then holding a block of flavour that only very slowly begins to melt. Here is an impressive wine that should open up beautifully in the medium-term…
The probable blend, but minus the press wine. They made two cuvées; older and younger vines but they will almost certainly be blended as such – 24 hl/ha – ‘In these warm vintages you note the difference between the vines in the middle of the clos and those next to the walls’
An airy, silky, width and an implied weight of dark fruit. Silky on the palate too but with a very fine texture – there is only a micro-grain here. The oak is subtle, almost chocolatey. The finish is clean and more mineral. I think this a potentially great wine!
Something with a little age:
2019 Clos des Epeneaux
This was bottled in july
Plenty of colour but still no match for the 20! A wide, more airy, smoky nose. Mouth-filling, cooler fruit than the 20 and the salinity more visible. Smoky flavour there are more stems in this wine. In this quick comparison, I may just prefer the 20 – but this is so impressively long…
2018 Clos des Epeneaux
Higher tones, more floral accents here. Direct, cool fruit again, no smoky stems to see but a width of concentrated flavour. The finish is intense and very impressive – there is a power here, only partly latent…
A more vertical nose plenty of redder, more pure fruit displayed here. Open, cool fruit, mouth-watering, still baby tannin structure but this has an approachable side with fine freshness. This is excellent, great 17…
Finally, a little white:
Vines in Pommard but young. 600-l barrels and stainless-steel for elevage here, harvested 3 days after all the reds were done.
Wow – such an incisive, almost imposing nose after the reds – pure and fresh – I think this will be more than a great palate cleanser. Wide, vibrant, an extra depth, almost textured to the flavour. The finishing fruit is rounder and has some creamy accents. Finishing with a fine phenolic texture, a grain of tannin. Excellent possibly great aligoté.