Pommard and Volnay Blind Tasting: another lesson of humility

Here we are again, tasting blind Pommards and Volnays. I always thought it was easy to distinguish those 2: Volnay being softer, more floral with a feminine side and Pommard being the Man in the house. The terroir is of course having a huge impact on the style for those 2 neighbouring climats (going south you will go through Pommard then hitting Volnay before reaching Meursault).
Well so much for generalisation!

2002 Domaine Jean Garaudet Pommard
Lovely nose with fresh red fruits and floral notes. Earthy.
Mushroms notes on the palate with a smoky finish. Long finish. Really impressive.
I though this was a Volnay!
2003 Prince Florent de Merode Pommard Clos de la Platière
Very fruity nose, candied. Grenadine notes. Hint of mint. With air, it becomes riper with even more fruit. Palate is darker, red plums. Not very enjoyable on the palate with some wood. It showed more Pommard like with air.
I was surprised to see this was an 03 and it did not show the roasted side of the vintage but this was definitely candied.
1990 Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay 1er Cru Champans
Showing evolution on the rim. Tired nose and palate. Moldy. The wine has seen better days.
Surprised to see the vintage as the few 90s I had were still going strong and quite ripe.




2001 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
Well so much for the hail in '01. This is simply superb and textbook Volnay. Floral, red fruits, balanced and elegant and showed great depth and weight.
2004 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes
Really weird with strong eggplant and ashes notes. It takes a lot of air and time for the fruit (nice cherry and raspberry) to appear. Still very backwards
There's also a steminess that I appreciate. Vin droit, Lafarge style.
Austere but there's definitely something bringing you back. The last drops were really good.
2001 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots
Smoky and herbs but quite shy.
Balanced with hint of earthiness but very simple on the palate and seems closed. The finish is nevertheless impressive.
Just like the Lafarge, it takes a lot of time for the wine to develop complexity. All about nice and clean dark cherry and strawberry with a touch of leather.
Firm and elegant. This needs 4-6 more years.
2006 Louis Latour Volnay 1er Cru En Chevret
Fruit, fruit and more red fruit. It tasted extracted to me.
No sense of place, no terroir. Where's Burgundy?



Some very interesting wines here with the Angerville Taillepieds showing really well in my opinion and maybe this vineyard escaped the hail in '01. The Clos des Epenots needs more time and is another example that 2001 is really a nice vintage in Burgundy that every lovers of classic Burgundy should have on their radar. I was lucky to be able to spend more time with the Lafarge and was able to taste its transformation over a few days.

It was quite difficult on some occasions to differentiate Pommard from Volnay. Pommard maybe masculine but it is in fact more about an iron fist in a velvet glove.

A few Extra-Bruts

For some reasons, the last 3 champagnes I had were all Extra-Brut. Very interesting as all 3 managed to have very different styles and texture.


Ulysse Collin Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs
Very light bubbles, this is more a wine than a Champagne. Very mineral, a touch of wood, not a lot of fruit (hint of green apple/lemon). I really like the austerity and focus of this Champagne. Long finish. Very subtle.
Olivier Collin, is located in Congy in the Sézannais, south of the Côte des Blancs. While waiting to get some of his family's land back, he did an internship at Selosse in 2001 and this had a huge influence on the way he works now. Carefully taking care of his vines, using no chemicals, it seems Olivier is ready to try new directions such as organic or biodynamic certification (maybe?). As his master, Olivier makes his fermentation and malo in barrels.


Marie-Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Extra Brut
I really enjoyed this one. 85% pinot and 15% Chardonnay. This is very elegant and very steely. You can definitely tell there is no dosage. A little bit austere with lively mousse, there's a hint of red fruits with lemony notes. With air, more yeasty/brioche notes.

Marie-Noelle, in Ambonnay, does everything in her cellar but also in the office: multi-tasking for sure ! Trying to work as natural as possible, no chemicals in the vineyards and no sulfur added after disgorgement. All her Champagnes are really showing the beautiful terrroir they come from. Unlike the other 2 producers here, she does not use any wood.

Vouette et Sorbée Extra Brut Fidèle
Based on 2007 vintage and disgorged in December 2009. 100% pinot noir.
Not easy to approach, it is nevertheless a fascinating Champagne. Wonderful nose with some wood notes and spices. There's also a nice chalkiness. Not a lot of bubbles, mineral on the palate with again some light oak notes. Not a ton of fruit even though this is 100% pinot. This is quite elegant and not very exuberant but rich as the same time. It's an experience hard to describe.
I'd like to try one with a little more age but this is really good.

Certified organic since 1998, Bertrand and Hélène Gautherot are trying to work with a minimalist intervention and let the terroir speaks. All champagnes are vinified and raised in barrels and once in the glass, need time.
No acidification, no collage or cold stabilisation. Some SO2 is used only during the harvest and nothing afterwards. Of course indigenous yeast is used.

Magic with no tricks

After our blind tasting on sauvignon blancs from all over the world, we all agreed that this grape became uninspiring and a commercial caricature with no depth, elegance or class. Only a handful winemakers can work with this grape and do magic (Cotat, Boulay etc..).
I was lucky enough to recently try one sauvignon blanc who gave me back some hope. When I drunk this bottle, I asked myself what is the trick behind to do such an amazing wine. Well, thing is there's no trick at all: no chemicals as the domain is organic, no sulfur at all (neither during fermentation and bottling), no additives. I told you: no tricks.
The wine is from Les Cailloux du Paradis and its winemaker Claude Courtois who has been working naturally for a very long time. He is located in Soings en Sologne, 150km east of Saumur.

This 2008 cuvée is called Quartz, a vin de France, made from old sauvignon blanc vines and most of them are franc de pied i.e. pre-phylloxera. The very obvious thing is that this does not taste like any other sauvignon blanc. The terroir and winemaker managed to sublime the grape here. This is ripe but has a tremendous acidity and showed pear and spices (the wine is vinified and raised in barrels) and finally the minerality takes over while it keeps evolving in your glass. Only 11.8% (!!!), this is a wine with no sulfur added, and needs time to blossom. Much, much better on day 2. The way the power, acidity and minerality are managed remind me of Francois Cotat.

Do yourself a favor, get out and grab a bottle and let the wine takes you away.