2009 Domaine Nicolas Rossignol Nicolas Pommard Rugiens 1er Cru

The 2009 Pommard Rugiens (from Rugiens-Bas) flows onto the palate with sweet dark cherries, blackberry jam and sweet spices. This is a decidedly opulent, textured wine that fills out its broad shouldered frame quite nicely. The finish is juicy, round and nicely done. The Rugiens was 100% destemmed. Tasted from barrel. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. Nicolas Rossignol began picking on September 10th and brought in very ripe fruit, with natural alcohols in the 13.5% range. Rossignol used a higher percentage of stems than normal to give the wines a measure of freshness. The wines saw 20-24 days of cuvaison (with no cold soak) with one punchdown per day. New oak ranged from 15% for the villages to 33-50% for the 1ers. The wines were not racked during their time in barrel. Rossignol has an energy and passion that will take him far. His 2009s are a bit all over the place stylistically, though, and it appears that a distinct house style has yet to emerge. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Toepfer Imports LLC, CO; tel. (303) 818-7640; Pas Mal Portfolio, NY; tel. (201) 569-4132