Pommard "Les Vaumuriens" rouge AOC 2023

The Pommard "Les Vaumuriens" is a pure Pinot Noir from the Côte de Beaune, carrying the power of its appellation without ever becoming broad or heavy. Dark fruit, fine-grained tannin, an upright frame. Dry, 12.5% vol.

Les Vaumuriens belongs to a patchwork of tiny plots: 1.8 hectares around Auxey-Duresses, spread across Auxey-Duresses, Pommard, Meursault and Saint-Romain. They came into the family through Justine, Louis Trapet's wife; her parents' house stands at the foot of the Montagne du Châtelet. Over four or five years, the brothers brought these barely tended vines back into shape, and in 2020 they bottled their first vintage of their own.

Pure Pinot Noir. In the vineyard, the plough takes the place of herbicides, biodynamic farming, hand-harvesting, and yields kept low from the start. Vinification doesn't take place in the Côte de Beaune but in the family cellar in Gevrey-Chambertin, a former coaching inn, where concrete eggs stand alongside wooden barrels and demi-muids. The wine ages without fining and is bottled unfiltered.

Dense and powerful, with a velvety grip: ripe black cherry and blackberry, joined by violet, a touch of undergrowth and fine spice. The vibrant acidity keeps the wine taut, and the finish remains long and straight.

Duck breast with herb jus, braised lamb shank or a boeuf bourguignon. It also has enough substance for venison saddle with mushrooms and a well-matured Époisses.

The Trapet family has been making wine in Burgundy since 1915. Pierre vinifies in Riquewihr in Alsace, Louis in the family cellar in Gevrey-Chambertin; for their joint estate, the brothers met halfway, in the Côte de Beaune. Colourful rings intertwine on the label — in winemaking circles, people speak of "Trapet²".