Dom. Comte Armand
Clos des Epeneaux Monopole Premier Cru
Pommard
2005

The producer

Comte Armand has owned the Clos des Epeneaux since 1826, the names synonymous as that was the only vineyard holding until 1994. A succession of talented winemakers – Pascal Marchand, Benjamin Leroux and now Paul Zinetti – have made exquisite wines since 1985, placing the estate at the pinnacle of wines from Pommard.

The Clos des Epeneaux spans the border of Grands and Petits Epenots, being made up of a piece of each but showing a distinct personality rather than a composite of both. It vies with Les Rugiens-Bas for the finest wines from the Pommard appellation. Since 1994 the estate has expanded to 9ha with Premier Crus in Volnay (Les Fremiets) and a rather impressive Auxey-Duresses, as well as village holdings in both.

The wine

The 5.23 hectares walled Clos des Epeneaux climat is owned entirely by Comte Armand. The clos spans the borders between Grands and Petits Epenots, and the soil is rich in stones and ferrous oxide which lends its character to the wines from here. Arguably the most complete expression of Pommard, Clos des Epeneaux is richly and vibrantly red fruited with layers of mineral and spice complexity, seamless tannins, and a velvety texture.   

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.