Pommard returns with majesty

The BIVB hosted its sixth Bourgogne Wines Club event in Hong Kong, which sought to convince the city’s wine experts of the growing quality of Pommard.

Hong Kong sommeliers attended the sixth tasting event hosted by BIVB and get to know more about Pommard wine

Greatness can beat preconception. Pommard, an appellation village of the Côte de Beaune region of Burgundy, is carving out a place for itself to prove that splendour can be regained.

“Pommard wine used to be very important, but it became less commercially important. However, nowadays, they’re making a come-back,” Yang Lu, who led the sixth Bourgogne Wines Club event hosted by BIVB, said.

With the intention of promoting wine-producing regions in Bourgogne, BIVB sets up a sequence of tasting events, targeted specifically at sommeliers in Hong Kong.

The sixth session, entitled “Pommard, a masculine wine or a feminine one?”, was held at Le Bistro Winebeast on 1 March, where Lu gave a detailed discourse about Pommard Wine, its geographical characteristics and geological demarcations.

Guided by Lu, a group of 18 sommeliers sampled four Pommard premier cru climats and two village wines.

The wine list of the 6th tasting encompassed:

• Pommard, La Chanière, 2012, Domaine Maillard Père et Fils
• Pommard, Les Riottes, 2012, Domaine Parigot
• Pommard 1er Cru, Les Epenots, 2012, Domaine Moissenet Bonnard
• Pommard 1er Cru, Clos de la Commaraine, 2012, Maison Louis Jadot
• Pommard 1er Cru, Les Jarollières, 2011, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot
• Pommard 1er Cru, Rugiens, 2011, Maison Joseph Drouhin

The wines tasted

Vineyards in Pommard perch between appellations of Beaune and Volnay. Up to now, Pommard includes 28 premiers crus, with no grand cru vineyards.

“Historically, Pommard was a very important appellation,” Lu said. Renowned for its rich red wine made from Pinot Noir grapes, it was once considered as the typical Bourgogne – dark red in color with mauve highlights, solid and powerfully aromatic.

As of now, this red-wine-only appellation is regaining its reputation. In truth, Pommard red wines are rich, firm yet delicate, thanks to the great terroir and skillful vinification.

Growers in Les Rugiens and Les Épenots, two of the best Premier Cru vineyards in Pommard, filed applications to the National Institute of Appellations (INAO), pushing for an upgrade to Grand Cru status.

Pommard may not strike wine lovers as the most magnificent wine region in Bourgogne. However, its potential and effort definitely deserve to be recognised.

According to the feedback from attendants after the tasting, some sommeliers expressed their interest to put Pommard wines produced from highly-regarded domaines onto their wine list.

“[If] the promotion to grands crus status [became] successful, the market for Pommard would be more promising,” Lu said.