POMMARD BIO > BOUCHARD Ainé & Fils

POMMARD BIO 2016

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2022

Varietal

100% Pinot Noir.

Tasting notes

Colour: Crystal-clear cherry red.

Nose: Complex and powerful, dominated by fruit (morello cherries, citrus fruit, fresh figs), wood, undergrowth and spices.

Palate: Powerful and full-bodied. Flavours of cherries, wood and spices. Very full-bodied structure with smooth tannins. Magnificent balance. Pommard wines are firm, with lots of colour and an intense bouquet.

Food and wine pairing

Ideal with roast game, grilled red meats, cheeses (especially cheeses ripened with a marc de Bourgogne).

Serving suggestions

Serve ideally between 15°C and 16°C / 59-61°F.

Ageing potential

A great wine for laying down, which can easily be kept for 5 to 8 years after the vintage, or even longer in the right conditions.

Origins

Pommard is one of the most famous villages in the Côte de Beaune, situated 5 km south of the town of Beaune on the route de Grands Crus. The appellation covers 322 hectares and produces only red wines, with 36% of its wines classified as 1er Cru. It is the best-known red wine appellation in the Côte de Beaune, and the favourite vin de garde of the French.

On the lower slopes, ancient alluvial deposits, then in the middle of the hillsides, the clay-limestone soils are well drained thanks to a pebbly deposit of rock debris. Further up, we find Oxfordian marl (Jurassic), brown calcareous and brown calcareous soils. Iron oxide sometimes reddens the soil.

Facing east and south. Altitude: between 250 and 330 metres.

This wine comes from organic vineyards.

Vinification and maturing

The grapes are collected in small ventilated crates, then painstakingly sorted at a table. Next, the grapes are entirely destemmed but not crushed (they remain whole) and transferred by gravity into a wooden vat. Maceration lasts around 3 weeks, with more-or-less frequent cap punching. The wine is aged for 14 to 16 months in oak barrels (20% new oak). Lastly, the wine is bottled with very light filtration.

Vintage : 2016

Our dearest Burgundy region could be the embodiment of that famous motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur...because for several years now it’s been suffering the whims of the weather and has always been capable of producing great wines out of it. Once again, the vintage 2016 will be a tangible proof!

Everything started from a very mild winter...maybe too mild to be honest. Actually, we should have been more wary of that sign for it was the warmest winter the region was going through since 1900. Sometimes the gap in the temperatures compared to the seasonal norms exceeded a 100%. In addition, the rain fell in excess particularly in Côte d’Or and as a consequence the lack of sun was really important.

Winter really came 3 months late, in March, but didn’t settle as the bursting of the first buds appeared at the beginning of April. So, as spring really settled, it also brought its share of climatic disasters: first, it was a hail storm that hit the South of the Mâconnais region; then, the most tragic freezing night in April, 26^th stroke almost all the region from the Grand Auxerrois to Côte Chalonnaise; and finally, 2 more hail storms on the 13^th and 27^th May lashed over Chablis, leaving the region with almost no hope of harvest.

This year, until summer, we went through very difficult times and had to hope for the vines to find the strength to grow again. Somehow our wish was granted, and the vegetative cycle started again, with great gaps from one plot to another. Due to all the climatic events, the flowering came late (mid-June) but didn’t last long thanks to hot temperatures.

From the month of July, the extremes reversed: the temperatures as well as the amount of sunshine exceeded the seasonal norms. Fortunately for the grape, it lasted until the end of October, allowing for a good maturity.

Harvest began on September, 20^th and spread over a month thanks to the great weather conditions, leaving us the opportunity to harvest each plot at its best.

Finally, the grapes we harvested were of great quality and although the plots hit by hail or frost gave almost nothing, the other had good yields.

During the vinifications, the vintage quickly revealed its high quality. We are expecting the wines to be well-balanced, with a good structure and a lot of freshness as well as finesse.