pommard 1996 comte armand

Last night I celebrated my birthday at the one local fine food that let's you byob. this wine was given a 97points in WS 5 years ago. Well it was Ok & had aged well but it didn't seem to be that complex or whatever. Maybe I just prefer big New world reds. However the somellier had had it once a few years back & talked about clay soil & masculine burgundies & it was all fun & games & then he kind of implied that some french makers will put a different wine under the same label?
Has anyone ever heard of that or have any experience with this particular wine?
thank you
Mike McNerney in Ottawa

I really really doubt a producer with the reputation of Comte Armand would risk everything by bottling a different wine (it has been done, but generally by low-end negociant types, not growers). And frankly this guy's implication that it's French growers who would do that strikes me personally as a bit xenophobic.

In any case, from idea of 97 score I'm assuming this is the Clos des Epenaux, not a village wine. I think this is a REALLY bad time to be opening top 1er from '96, they seem to be shut down very hard, mostly showing acid.

Another Canadian, welcome to the forum!! Hope to see more tasting notes.

It is general practice by reputable producers nowadays to bend together all the barrels making up the same cuvée but some producers have different bottling runs which can be a few months apart. Naturally the wine will vary somewhat between the different bottling dates, partly because of the time factor but also because of different barrels. I do not know whether Comte Armand is one of these but I doubt it because, like most in Burgundy, the estate is very small.

In the bad old days (I guess, 50+ years ago) some of the most famous Bordeaux châteaux bottled all barrels separately reserving the best for their most favoured customers and also shipped barrels for bottling by foreign and, I think, Parisian wine merchants. There were excellent (as well as less good) British and Belgian bottled clarets up to the 60s; some merchants even had recipes for "improving" the wine. Going back further to before the 14-18 war, chäteau or domaine bottling was almost unknown.

In most cases there is no way with French wine of identifying the different bottlings by the producer except by taste. This is unlike the situation in Germany where the rigours of the AP number system differentiate clearly between bottlings.

Yes, and you also don't say whether you tasted it 5 years ago or just read the WS review 5 years ago.

If the former is true then obviously you're in a position to judge whether it had evolved as you expected. But, as said above, many 96s are still not showing their best, so many people are wagering that such wines will indeed be "worth" whatever points they might have received at a future date.

thanks for your responses. I did not taste it 5 years ago, but am just quoting the review which also did state best between '06 & '20 but I opened it now because someone else of canadian note said it would not really improve any suggested I opened it sooner rather than later?
I'm still a novice and don 't have much experiennce with old world cellerable wines
MM in Ottawa

Mike,
I looked at a Winebid offering for the '96 Clos des Epeneaux and it quotes the 97 WS score, so assume that's what you have. It's a brawny wine made to age, and most (all?) '96s like that are pretty "shut-down" right now. There are quite a few types of wines that go through a dumb period, but red Burgs are probably the champs at showing poorly during that period. A CdP or Bdx might shut down, but you get a glimpse of what is waiting. You often don't with Burgundy. Which is why Burgheads are constantly talking about how particular wines are doing right now.

I certainly understand why you opened, but I have to say critic's estimated drinking windows on newly released wines always leave me puzzled. Sometimes the WS's dates on Burgundy have looked to me to be almost a guide to the worse time to drink! I tend to like bigger Burgs from ageable vintages either right on release or with 12+ years, they often say drink 4-8 years from release. I have one bottle of the Armand CdE, the '89, and I'm hoping it's ready when I open soon.

Sorry for your experience, and hope you keep posting,

The '96 Armand Epenoux, imho, should not be touched until 2011. I'm certain this wine is closed. The high acidity of the vintage may also play a role in it's current performance. The '93 is just beginning to show well, the '90 is still not ready to my taste.

As a side note, I'm not sure the domaine bottles a village wine. The Pommard 1er is young vine Epenoux. They may have declassified some fruit in a certain vintage, but I don't think they bottle a lieu dit normally.

I have found this very interesting & now wish I had several more bottles but don't of course, soooo how/where could I get a couple, preferabbly in Ottawa or Toronto & how much would it be worth now? I paid 300 francs in 2000.
MM in Ottawa

Just saw an offer at $79 from Premier Cru (I noticed due to this thread)

I don't see this wine listed in the LCBO website so it may not be simple to get in TO and Ottawa. You many need to make a strategic run for the boarder......but bring your passport nowadays.

I agree with your assessment of this wine - my note from Sept. 11 2005 -

This bottle was opened last evening and the remainder polished off this afternoon.

This monopole (single owner) site in Pommard holds legendary status amongst many a scribe. The particular vintage was harvested from Pinot Noir vines ranging from 25-80 years of age. Coates wrote, in 1998, the winemaker, Pascal Marchand, considered this his best Epeneaux ever. Coates was tempted to agree.

I thought the wine impressive, exhibiting good colour, plenty of sappy cherry and plum fruit with an element of rusticity - earthy, undergrowth aromas and flavours interplaying with some nicely honed savoury oak, silky textured, with grainy tannins, some lift from the acidity common to this vintage and very good length. Unfortunately, it doesn't compare to the great Burgundies I've had the (occasional) pleasure of sharing but, all in all, a wine that can be highly recommended and drunk over the next several years.

Today was almost a total rehash of what I've written above apart from the merest whisper of oxidation on the nose and a little softening of the sturdy tannin structure. Still drinking very nicely. Would rate this as Very Good only - about 88 points. A bit disappointing for the hype that surrounds this producer/vineyard.