A deep, young colour in the glass. An extra portion of herbs brings padding to the deep, slightly tight fruit. Fresh, structure is slightly ahead of the fruit, but there’s lovely complexity here and a very sneaky length…
Comments for this entry
Comte Armand
1997 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux
(Magnum) The nose is more interesting than the the rather ‘harder’ and stand-offish stance this wine often shows; high-toned with plenty of dried fruits – more interesting that the standard 1997 ‘roasted’ fruits – plus freshness and depth. The palate is sweet with grainy tannin and is very long finishing. It’s clearly a very young, but surprised me in that there is more charachter here than I find in many vintages of this wine.
2004 Comte Armand Auxey-Duresses
Medium yellow – perhaps already with a glint of gold. The nose started rather exotic and ripe but quickly settled to a core of brioche and sweet pastry with a faint pineapple rim. Almost lush in texture this gives the impression of being from a much riper year than 2004. Reaching the mid-palate the texture is a little less smooth and rolls into a medium finish. Nice, but probably just a little heavy in the mid-palate for a rebuy chez Nanson.
1996 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux
Medium-plus colour. A wild and impressive nose at the start; oak, a little blood, interesting width, but slowly the oak becomes a little more dominant and the joy fades. Much more subtle entry than the Lejeune Rugiens, a little more tannin but it’s also more linear and focused. Equally potent in the mid-palate and more obvious length – though some of that is, for sure, oak. More depth, but today also less interest than the Lejeune.
2003 Comte Armand Auxey-Duresses 1er
One-third from the climat of Les Duresses (lots of brown clay) and two-thirds from Les Bréterins at the beginning of the village and touching Le Val. Stony soil here with more marl and typically giving a little extra finesse. Good depth to the nose. The palate’s profile is quite fresh with a good grab to the tannins. Perhaps the finish is a little short(?)
2003 Comte Armand Volnay
2003 Comte Armand Volnay Fremiets
From the bottom of the Fremiets vineyard. racked in September. It’s a vineyard that concentrates the heat, so tends to be picked 2-3 days earlier than close-by vineyards. It’s a mix of 30 and 55 year-old vines and unlike many in Volnay there was no frost here in 2003, still, only 25hl/ha were produced. The cold nose is fresh and shows red berries and a warm edge. Nicely intense fruit in a linear fashion, just an extra brush of tannin on the finish. Very well balanced.
2002 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux
This year it was 27 hl/ha and an elevage of ~55% new oak. A normal vinification of 28 days (remember those lunar cycles…) including a cold soak followed by pigeages. The nose has depth rather than width. A super palate that’s both concentrated and ripe yet well balanced. Very lovely and has a late grab from the tannins just as you’re contemplating the finish.
2001 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux
31 hl/ha with just a little less new oak. High-toned less forwardly ripe than the 2002, mixing mineral notes with the redder fruit. Lush, concentrated palate, tannins are similar to the ’02 but perhaps a little less ripe though the fruit buffers beautifully. This will need more time than the 02. In Benjamin’s opinion the 02 says more today about the vintage than the Clos, whereas the 01 is all about the Clos