2005 Comte Armand, Pommard Premier Cru, Clos des Epeneaux 1×1.5L

Robert Parker 90

The 2005 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux is a rather controversial wine. Benjamin Leroux was not as enthused by the vintage as others. “We went for more extraction to see how far we could go,” he rued, “It is not a wine that I hate. But it is not a wine that I love.” I concur. It has a youthful nose of quite powerful, almost burly black fruit laced with iodine and dried petals, that is nicely focused. The palate is full-bodied and sinewy, with layers of spicy red and black fruit and a dash of white pepper and cloves. Though it offers impressive dimension, it is exactly that – more impressive than pleasurable, and there is a distinct lack of finesse and terroir expression toward the finish. A Clos des Epeneaux showing off? Drink 2015-2025. [Neal Martin, 08/01/2013]

Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025

Vinous 93+

Saturated ruby. Superripe but fresh aromas of black raspberry, licorice and spices, with a hint of more exotic fruits. Sweet but not quite jammy, with very rich and distinctly black fruit flavors complicated by spices and bitter chocolate. A Pommard of compelling depth and verve, with flavors mounting slowly and inexorably to take over the entire palate. Finishes very long, with a boatload of tannins. This is huge in terms of its fruit, tannins, alcohol (14%) and acidity (the pH is just 3.3). Leroux believes that it’s even riper than the 1990 version, but notes that this style of wine "is not why I’m working in Burgundy." This should evolve in bottle for at least two decades, but I believe it’s already beginning to shut down. [Stephen Tanzer, 01/03/2008]