Red Wine: 1990 | Comte Armand | Pommard Clos des Epeneaux

Still deeply colored. An expressive, dense, indeed huge nose of roasted, ever-so-slightly stewed fruit that is already showing a great deal of secondary and even tertiary development while the muscular, rich, extracted and solidly complex flavors are underpinned by a tough, firm and very prominent tannic backbone.

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Producer: Comte Armand

Ratings: WA | 94 VN | 90

Vintage: 1990

Size: 750ml

ABV: 13%

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Country/Region: France, Burgundy

Still deeply colored. An expressive, dense, indeed huge nose of roasted, ever-so-slightly stewed fruit that is already showing a great deal of secondary and even tertiary development while the muscular, rich, extracted and solidly complex flavors are underpinned by a tough, firm and very prominent tannic backbone. This is a dramatic bruiser of a wine but it’s not clear that it’s ever going to harmonize as the finish is completely dominated by the structure and given that the fruit is presently much more advanced than the evolution of the tannins, it’s a tough call to say whether the fruit will be able to stand the test of time and this most recent bottle gave no cause for optimism in this regard, indeed it seemed to confirm that this is probably a lost cause.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: Similar to the 1990s from one of Pommard’s other top producers, Armand and Aleth Girardin, this is a monster wine. It is one of the most concentrated, massive Pinot Noirs I have ever tasted. The wine was bottled with no fining or filtering after it had spent 23-months in small oak casks. The color is black/purple, and the nose offers up sweet aromas of licorice, minerals, and super-ripe black fruits intertwined with the smell of toasty vanillin new oak. In the mouth, there is awesome concentration, a thick, glycerin-imbued, full-bodied, chewy texture, and mouthsearing tannins in the explosively long finish. This should prove to be a monumental Pommard, but prospective purchasers will need to wait 10-12 years for this wine to shed some of its tannic clout.

• Vinous: Benjamin Leroux poured the powerful 1990 Comte Armand Clos des Epeneaux from magnum. Still deeply colored, it was youthful and structured, with tons of fruit and terrific harmony.

Producer Information

Domaine des Epeneaux Comte Armand is a Burgundy producer in the Pommard appellation of the Cte de Beaune. It is known for its Pinot Noir, especially that from the estate’s premier cru monopole, Clos de Epeneaux. The domaine has been owned by the Armand family for almost two centuries.Nicolas Marey bought the 5 hectare (12 acre) Epeneaux vineyard at the end of the 18th Century after it was confiscated from the church during the French Revolution. Clos de Epeneaux is nestled between the Grands Epenots and Petits Epenots in Pommard, and together they constitute the prestigious Epenots lieu-dit.Marey built the wall (or clos) sometime around 1805 and established the monopole, as well as the name of the domaine. It then passed by marriage to the Armand family in 1828. Clos de Epeneaux has since been named a premier cru site and is one of the ten largest monopole vineyards in the Cte d’Or.