2023 Bourgogne Aligoté Comte Armand
£110.00 In Bond £151.94 Inc VAT (£25.32 Per Bottle)-
Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 86-88
The 2023 Bourgogne Aligoté has a very focused bouquet perfumed with lanolin and orange blossom scents. The palate is well balanced with sour lemon notes on the entry and a keen line of acidity, but I kind of miss the texture that an Aligoté can bring. It is just a bit lean for my liking.
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Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 86-88
The 2023 Bourgogne Aligoté has a very focused bouquet perfumed with lanolin and orange blossom scents. The palate is well balanced with sour lemon notes on the entry and a keen line of acidity, but I kind of miss the texture that an Aligoté can bring. It is just a bit lean for my liking.
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Jasper Morris MW, November 2024, Score: 88-90
From various plots below Volnay, Pommard and Meursault. Pale with a green tint. A much more classic bouquet, the volume did not escape sensible limits, this is lovely and lively on the palate as well. 20% has been made in ceramics, otherwise demi muid for the most part. Excellent persistence, one of my favourite examples this year. Drink from 2026-2029. Tasted Nov 2024.
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GWL, December 2024
This cuvée brings together fruit from three individual plots, two of which are located in Volnay and the third in Meursault. The Volnay portion of the blend is from relatively young vines, which bring vivacity and freshness, whilst the Meursault fruit is from 90-year-old vines, giving depth, weight and presence. Open and beautifully expressive, the nose is filled with notes of apple blossom, confit lemons and grapefruit zest. There is a good weight of yellow plum fruit at the core of this wine, along with a creamy, vinous texture that speaks of old vine complexity. Juicy, mouth-watering acidity and a touch of sweet spice bring this delicious white to a satisfying close.
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2023 Auxey Duresses Comte Armand
£145.00 In Bond £194.74 Inc VAT (£32.45 Per Bottle)-
GWL, December 2024
Sitting directly behind Meursault and with a northern exposure that is proving beneficial as the climate changes, the vineyards of Auxey Duresses are fast gaining recognition for producing charming representations of Pinot Noir. The 2023 shows bright, pretty notes of red cherry, grenadine and white pepper spice. With an abundance of ripe, supple red fruit, this cuvée has immediate appeal – it is just eminently approachable. Fine-grained tannins offer support and structure without overwhelming the fruit purity. Buoyant acidity and a lick of spice on the finish ensure that the liveliness of the nose follows right through to the finish.
2023 Volnay Comte Armand
£225.00 In Bond £290.74 Inc VAT (£48.45 Per Bottle)-
GWL, December 2024
The fruit for this cuvée comes from two different vineyards within Volnay: Les Grands Champs, providing finesse and elegance, and Les Famines, giving body and power. Highly expressive and fragrant, the 2023 has layered scents of black cherries, raspberry coulis, dried wild herbs and savoury spice. Succulent and weighty, there is a delightful volume of forest fruits at the core of this wine, supported by stone-driven acidity and robust tannins that deliver a chalky bite to the finish. A wine that will relax into itself with a couple of years in bottle.
2023 Auxey Duresses 1er Cru Comte Armand
£245.00 In Bond £314.74 Inc VAT (£52.45 Per Bottle)-
Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 88-90
The 2023 Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru offers more perfume and florality than the Village Cru, with violet-infused black cherry and blueberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, a creamy texture and a plush, precocious character, finishing with a note of sweet cassis. This will be difficult to resist in its youth.
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Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 88-90
The 2023 Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru offers more perfume and florality than the Village Cru, with violet-infused black cherry and blueberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, a creamy texture and a plush, precocious character, finishing with a note of sweet cassis. This will be difficult to resist in its youth.
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Jancis Robinson, January 2025, Score: 16.5
Cask sample. Ripe, sweet, dark-red fruit. Lifted, sweet and sour. One of the first reds where I have noticed the oak, in a spicy sweetness. Firmly chewy tannins, contrast between sweet fruit and dry texture, but it comes into balance on the finish. (JH)
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Jasper Morris MW, November 2024, Score: 89-92
Darker centre to the colour in the middle. 50% new wood. Shows a bit on the nose but otherwise a decent concentration of darker berried fruit. A few tannins present on the palate, but overall more coherent and much more persistent than the village wine, indeed a lovely aftertaste on alpine strawberry and fresh cherry. Drink from 2028-2033. Tasted Nov 2024.
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GWL, December 2024
The domaine owns three very small parcels within this Premier Cru: Les Bretarins, Les Bas des Duresses and Climat du Val. As such, the wines from these three sites are blended together as a single cuvée to give a complete, rounded expression of Auxey Premier Cru. It opens with ripe and beguiling notes of wild cherries, sun-warmed raspberries, a hint of black pepper and something a little savoury. Showing a lovely density of fruit sweetness at its core, this wine sings with crystalline acidity that brings a stony, mineral edge to the palate. Although there is overt structure here, the tannins are ripe and fine-grained, giving the lightest indication of their presence on the finish.
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2023 Volnay 1er Cru Les Fremiets Comte Armand
£465.00 In Bond £579.54 Inc VAT (£96.59 Per Bottle)-
Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 87-89
The 2023 Volnay Les Frémiets 1er Cru has a sensual bouquet with raspberry crumble and wild strawberry scents. Touches of pressed violet come through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannins and an extracted finish, perhaps at the expense of some finesse and precision. I'll have to be prudent with my score.
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Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 87-89
The 2023 Volnay Les Frémiets 1er Cru has a sensual bouquet with raspberry crumble and wild strawberry scents. Touches of pressed violet come through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannins and an extracted finish, perhaps at the expense of some finesse and precision. I'll have to be prudent with my score.
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GWL, December 2024
Situated in the middle of a slope, this Premier Cru lies at the Pommard end of the village and benefits from the iron-rich soils of its neighbour. The lower part of the vineyard ripens early, which is why this is always the first parcel to be picked at the domaine. The layered and fragrant nose displays notes of wild violets, Morello cherry and a touch of bitter almond. Rounded upfront fruit has a crystalline purity and is held together by a driving energy and finely spun tannins. A cuvée of immediate charm and vibrancy, there is still substance that will unveil further complexity after careful cellaring.
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2023 Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux Comte Armand
£625.00 In Bond £770.74 Inc VAT (£128.45 Per Bottle)-
Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 92-94
The 2023 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru was tasted as separate lots as well as the final cuvée assembled in proportion. It represents a normal yield of around 34hl/ha and was matured in 50% new oak. The 2023 has a very attractive and well-defined bouquet with pure raspberry, wild strawberry and pressed iris flower. A little fleshier than expected, the palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It is not the most complex Clos des Epeneaux I have ever tasted, but it boasts tension, structure and a nice touch of sour cherry on the aftertaste. This deserves three or four years in bottle.
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Neal Martin, November 2024, Score: 92-94
The 2023 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru was tasted as separate lots as well as the final cuvée assembled in proportion. It represents a normal yield of around 34hl/ha and was matured in 50% new oak. The 2023 has a very attractive and well-defined bouquet with pure raspberry, wild strawberry and pressed iris flower. A little fleshier than expected, the palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It is not the most complex Clos des Epeneaux I have ever tasted, but it boasts tension, structure and a nice touch of sour cherry on the aftertaste. This deserves three or four years in bottle.
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Jancis Robinson, January 2025, Score: 16.5++
Sweet and much more of a pleasure than the Auxey-Duresses Premier Cru. Very embryonic and still quite savage and brutal but very much what Pommard is traditionally meant to be. Clean and fresh on the finish. (JR)
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GWL, December 2024
A monopole in the family since 1826, the Clos is divided into four different sections based on location and age of the vines, with the oldest quadrant being a 1.5-hectare parcel of 100-year-old pieds. Each of the four parcels is vinified and barrel aged separately, with the final blend assembled a few months before bottling. Tasting from barrel is done by parcel, to show the individual character of each part of the vineyard, before a blend is prepared in-situ. This is en primeur tasting with flair! The 2023 is a marvellously complex wine, showing an array of Morello cherry, pomegranate and black forest fruit aromas that are enlivened with whisps of black pepper, crushed violets and savoury, wild herbs. Initially, the pure fruit core seems to be driven, linear and highly focussed. However, it opens out to reveal a deliciously moreish breadth that is effortlessly supported by fine, velvety tannins. With a long and sustained finish, this is a wine of Grand Cru stature.
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