Pierre Girardin - Pommard les Noizons 2018

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Pommard wine is produced in the commune of Pommard in Côte de Beaune of Burgundy. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Pommard is only used for red wine with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. There are no Grand Cru vineyards within Pommard, but several highly regarded Premier Cru vineyards. The AOC was created in 1937.

In 2008, there were 321.69 hectares (794.9 acres) of vineyard surface in production for Pommard wine at village and Premier Cru level, and 12,892 hectoliter of wine was produced, corresponding to just over 1.7 million bottles.

The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris as accessory grapes in the red wines, but this is not very often practiced. The allowed base yield is 40 hectoliter per hectare. The grapes must reach a maturity of at least 10.5 per cent potential alcohol for village-level wine and 11.0 per cent for Premier Cru wine.

Pommard wines are typically among the most powerful and tannic of the Côte de Beaune wines, providing a clear contrast to the light and elegant Volnay wines from the neighboring village.

Pierre Girardin Description

Pierre-Vincent Girardin is the 13th generation of his family to make wine in Burgundy. He grew up learning in the cellar of his father, Vincent Girardin, from a very young age. When the elder Girardin sold his domaine in 2011, he made sure to keep 4.5 hectares of his best sites to one day pass on to his son. In 2017, Pierre-Vincent made his first vintage and announced himself as a rising talent in Burgundy. His father’s extensive contacts in Burgundy allowed Pierre-Vincent to supplement his domaine vineyards through long term contracts with top growers who hold his meticulous viticultural philosophy. Together it represents a portfolio of terroir rarely seen under one roof, including such rare sites as village-level Puligny Folatières (Lalou Bize-Leroy bottles the only other parcel from this section of Folatières), Volnay Clos des Chênes, Pommard Epenots, Corton-Charlemagne, and even Montrachet itself. In order to make white wines with the purity, cut and precision he desires, Pierre-Vincent commissioned custom 456L barrels from Francois Freres to reduce the amount of new wood influence. For the reds, they are all made with an eye towards elegance and silkiness, highlighting the extraordinary terroir Pierre is working with. This means a long and gentle press followed by little to no pigeage and bottling unfined and unfiltered. It is rare for a producer’s first vintage to arrive with such a clear and definitive voice. As Pierre explains, he was learning from and helping his father in the cellar from the time he could walk. His best memories of childhood include chasing the tractor through the vineyards and being near the barrels as his father worked. Simply put, Burgundy is in his blood.