Pommard Premier Cru Wine, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy

October 1, 2010

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Pommard Premier Cru wines are those made under the strictest production conditions of the Pommard  appellation. The most fundamental of these conditions is that the grapes come exclusively from Pommard vineyards which have been officially rated as Premier Cru by the INAO, the French government organization responsible for the country’s appellation system.

The vineyards of Pommard are sandwiched together between the steep Mont Buisson and Montagne-Saint-Desiree hills, separated by the narrow Dheune valley, and the fertile plains below. This topography makes for a distinctive belt of prime vine-growing land between these features, between the over-exposed sites on the 1300ft (400m) hilltops and the over-fertile deep soils of the flatter land below. Pommard’s Pinot Noir vines produce their best wine grapes when grown in shallow, mineral-rich soil with good drainage, hence the lower-lying land is reserved for the less prestigious Bourgogne AC appellation.

The streets and houses of Pommard itself are the only break in the belt of Premier Cru vineyards which run all the way from Beaune to Monthelie. There are variations in the soil make-up within the belt, from the deeper, richer alluvial soils lower down on the slopes, through the classic Burgundian clay-limestone soils on the mid-slopes, to marl and brown soil in the higher sites. The more ‘masculine’ style of many Pommard wines is the result of ‘gamey’ flavors brought about by iron-rich patches of soil, and of the mineral-rich clays which are particularly prevalent in the Premier Cru sites.

As is the case in every Burgundy commune, the names attributed to the official Premier Cru climats are based on the much longer-established names of the lieu-dit sites around which they are structured. For example, the walled Clos Micot vineyard is named after Comte Vivant Micaut, the nobleman who built the Chateau de Pommard in the eighteenth century. Likewise, the Largilliere site has long been known for being particularly rich in clay – l’argile, in French.

Source: http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-pommard+premier+cru

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