2009 Pommard Les Rugiens

The 2009 Pommard Rugiens comes across as immediate, with less complexity than the best wines here. There is impressive richness in the fruit, but not much else in the way of complexity. Perhaps I am being too hard on the Rugiens, but some of the earlier wines in the lineup are hard to follow! These vines were planted in 1935. Glantenay used 50% whole clusters for the Rugiens. Tasted from tank. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. This is a fine set of wines from Thierry Glantenay, one of Volnay’s up and coming artisan growers. Glantenay and his family farm 7 hectares of vineyards, mostly in Volnay and Pommard. The 2009 harvest started on September 9th. Except as noted, all of the wines were made with 100% destemmed fruit. Cuvaison lasted around 12-16 days. In 2009 Glantenay did a little cold maceration to bring the temperature of the grapes down, although in colder years he does not typically do a cold soak. The wines were moved in to oak where they aged on their fine lees with no rackings until they were prepared for bottling. Glantenay used a maximum of 30% new oak in 2009. I tasted most of these 2009s from tank. Bottling was scheduled for March 2011. Glantenay did not plan to fine or filter. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800