2010 Pommard Les Vignots

The 2010 Pommard Vignots wraps around the palate with serious depth and structure. This is an especially dark, brooding Vignots that needs time in the glass to start opening up. Hints of tar, smoke and incense wrap around the deep, resonant finish. From barrel, the wine’s structural components were more dominant, but now that the wine is in bottle, the sheer depth of the fruit is much more evident. The Vignots is even more impressive from bottle than it was from barrel, and that is saying a lot. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. Lalou Bize-Leroy is always among the first growers to bottle, as she was once again in 2010. Therefore, I have chosen to present final, in-bottle reviews of the 2010 reds along with the Domaine Leroy and D’Auvenay 2010 whites. All of the wines came in at or near the top of my barrel scores. Thinking back to the day I tasted the 2010s from barrel in a very empty-looking cellar, I am reminded, that, as elsewhere, the already minuscule quantities of these wines was made even smaller by the mercilessly short crop in 2010. Readers who can find the wines should not hesitate. In this vintage, the Leroy wines are deeply marked by terroir. Although I don’t share all of her views, tasting with Lalou Bize-Leroy is always a fascinating experience, as everything she does is informed by the deepest and most total conviction imaginable. There is no more ardent exponent of the most fundamental of all Burgundian values – the concept of terroir – than Lalou Bize-Leroy. Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040

The 2010 Pommard Les Vignots impresses for its focus, cut and sheer length. Sweet red berries, flowers and mint come together beautifully in this sinewy, taut Vignots. I would like to think the Vignots will be ready before its tenth birthday. There is more than enough staying power for the wine to drink well for years beyond that.

Dark and rich. Splendid though a little tough for the moment – but persistent. Patience needed – a very classic Vignots. (JR)