Domaine du Comte Armand – Pommard Premier Cru Clos des Épeneaux Monopole 2016 – Burgundy France

Paul Zinetti's Clos des Épeneaux from the frost year. April 2016 devastated Pommard, so what survived came in small quantities and unusual concentration — on a walled 5.2-hectare monopole that has belonged to one family since 1826 and to a single owner since before the Revolution.

🍷 At a Glance

• Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
• Appellation: Pommard Premier Cru Clos des Épeneaux — monopole
• Region: Côte de Beaune, Burgundy
• Vintage: 2016
• Producer: Domaine du Comte Armand
• Winemaker: Paul Zinetti
• Vineyard: Around 5.2 hectares, walled, straddling Grands and Petits Épenots; wall finished in 1805, not replanted after phylloxera until 1930
• Farming: Organic, Ecocert certified since 2005, farmed biodynamically
• Winemaking: Vinified in separate parcels by vine age and assembled into the final blend; the youngest vines are declassified
• Serving temperature: 15–17°C
• Style: Dry red wine

👃 Tasting Notes & Experience

• Color: Deep ruby
• Nose: Dark fruit, earth and spice
• Palate: Concentrated by a tiny crop, layered rather than heavy
• Structure: Firm Pommard tannins with real definition
• Finish: Long, savoury and persistent

Zinetti joined the estate in 2010 as Benjamin Leroux's second-in-command and took over the cellar in 2014, and observers describe a subtle but discernible shift under him. He inherited a vineyard with an unusual advantage: because the Clos is large enough to hold vines of many different ages, each block is fermented separately and only then assembled, with the youngest declassified into the domaine's Pommard bottlings. The frost of 2016 cut the crop hard across Pommard, Volnay and Beaune, and the wines that came through are correspondingly concentrated.

❤️ Why We Love It

• The reference-point Pommard, from a monopole under one family for two centuries
• A frost vintage that left very little wine
• Organic and biodynamic, with the youngest vines selected out of the blend

🍽️ Food Pairing Ideas

• Roast beef, venison and game
• Boeuf bourguignon and slow-braised dishes
• Aged hard cheeses

👤 Who This Wine Is For

✓ Collectors who want the benchmark Pommard with decades ahead of it
✓ Drinkers who like structure and depth over immediate charm
✕ Not ideal if you want something to open now