Benjamin Leroux Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens Hauts 2018

Notwithstanding the Clos des Epeneaux, Leroux has always said there is only one 1er Cru that would tempt him back to Pommard: Les Rugiens. A new long-term contract with the same owner as the Volnay Caillerets brought Leroux back in his old stomping ground in 2017, and once again, he works the same iron-rich red clay soils that he did with Comte Armand. These vines (0.6-hectares covering three small parcels of 25- and 90-year-old vines) lie at the foot of Les Rugiens-Hauts, the part of the vineyard that is considered by many (Leroux included) to produce Pommard’s greatest wines.

Again, only the youngest fruit was de-stemmed, leaving half of the fruit as whole berries. “The kind of Pommard I love,” says Leroux. Again, a remarkable follow-on from the brilliant 2017, this is a heroic Pommard that will cellar very, very well.

“Half whole bunch. Excellent dense colour. Fine firm fruit on the nose, this has all the class of the upper part without acquiring the depth of the lower sector. The fruit hovers between red and black, the tannins are fine grained, with impressive length and weight of fruit without being bulky.” 91-94 points, Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy