2011 Pommard Les Rugiens

Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. The Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens ‘11 has quite an intense, slightly tinny bouquet with tart red cherries, orange zest and damp earthy aromas. The definition is quite impressive. The palate is medium-bodied with bold and assertive tannins and there is real weight in the mouth. It is endowed with plenty of oak, although there is as much fruit tannin as wood on the austere finish. Difficult to see which way this will head, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt and suggest giving time for it to coalesce.

Good bright red. Complex, ripe aromas of raspberry, cherry, iron, minerals, spices, pepper and truffley underbrush. The sweetest, supplest and most refined of these 2011s, offering lovely harmonious acidity to its red fruit, red licorice and mineral flavors. Really coats the mouth and vibrates on the long, firmly tannic finish, which features a late burst of ripe but lively red fruits. Winemaker Yves Confuron says the 2011s here have similar precision to the 2010s but more middle, although he believes that the wines have shut down following the September 2013 bottling.

Bright red, not quite as deep as the Grand Clos des Epenots. Exotic aromas of red fruits, clove, iron and raw meat are complicated by an almost metallic minerality. Silky, sweet and deep; seriously rich but lively too. The most tangy of these 2011s and the longest too, finishing with very fine-grained tannins and an impression of energy. This has a serious structure for aging and will probably require a good seven or eight years of bottle aging before it approaches its plane of peak drinkability.