Pommard “Les Vaumuriens” 2019 – Jean-Claude Boisset

The grapes to produce the  Pommard “Les Vaumuriens” Jean-Claude Boisset were handpicked into 20 kilogram perforated boxes before being sorted for a second time in the winery. 50% the grapes were left as whole bunches, while the remainder were destemmed but not crushed and gravity-fed into tanks. The whole bunches were transferred into fermentation tanks where maceration lasted 19 days, of which four days were at 12°C before an indigenous yeast fermentation with two punchings of the cap. The wine was aged in French Oak barrels, of which 35% was new, for 16 months on lees without racking.

Les Vaumuriens is located in Pommard, between Beaune and Volnay, on the hillside slopes facing Volnay. The soil here is a mixture of clay and limestone, which gives the wine good intensity on the palate and elegance on the finish. In old French ‘Vaumuriens’ describes a narrow, steep-sided valley. The wine is produced from very old and naturally low-yielding vines, with careful and environmentally-friendly vineyard management.

Jean-Claude Boisset is a family-owned wine company founded in 1961. Jean-Claude’s first parcel of land was located in Gevrey-Chambertin and today the company is based in Les Ursulines, a former convent in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and run by his children Jean-Charles and Nathalie. In 2018, they opened a new state-of-the-art winery, which reflects their modern, technical approach to winemaking. In 2002, Jean-Charles recruited Grégory Patriat, who had previously worked at the legendary Vosne-Romanée producer Domaine Leroy, to revitalise and reinvent the house. He transformed Boisset into a ‘viniculteur’, working closely with the growers, guiding the wines from vine to bottle to achieve the desired quality. In order to create concentrated, beautifully well-rounded wines which are naturally expressive of their individual appellation, Grégory practises minimal intervention winemaking. Each plot is picked separately and hand sorted to ensure optimal maturity. Sulphite levels are low and the wines are fermented exclusively by natural yeasts, with rarely more than 30% new oak used on a wine.