Pommard 1er cru Poutures, Domaine Dublere 2006
Blair Pethel caught the Burgundy bug and moved to the Beaune permanently with his family in 2003, and started making wine in 2004, after qualifying in viticulture and oenology with a year’s course at the famous Lycée Viticole of Beaune. He apprenticed with several top winemakers—Patrice Rion in Premeaux-Prissey and Jean-Marc Pillot in Chassagne-Montrachet, to name two—and learned to work both the vines and the wine with care and respect. “I bring this attitude to everything I do: my work in my own vineyards, in the vineyards owned by others from whom I buy grapes, in the winery and in the cellar”.
It’s the vinegrower’s job to natural fashion while favouring the development of bacteria that improve the quality of both the soil and the grapes. No anti-botrytis treatments, just careful, hands-on viticultural practices which enable them to avoid this strain of rot. Well-aerated vines are achieved by pruning long and de-budding severely, pinching excess secondary shoots, de-leafing and keeping yields low. No insecticides are used, always sexual confusion pheromones to assure the vines are protected against pests. All vineyard work is designed to optimise the vine’s ability to search deep into the soil for the nourishment and minerals which give the wines their innumerable nuances. To achieve this goal, Domaine Dublère farms with absolute respect for the soil and the vine itself which entails no chemical fertilizers. When there is a need, they use only organic compost to add nutrients to the vineyards via the intermediary of the soil. “We feed the soil, never the vine”. No weed killers, only ploughing by traditional methods. All vineyard work is done with an ultra-light tractor to avoid compacting the soil, thereby allowing it to breathe and develop naturally.
After a rigorous selection process, the grapes are put in fermenting tanks without pumping. The “cuvaison” is fairly long – between 18-21 days – during which the wine is pumped over or has the cap punched down at least twice daily to extract colour, tannins and aromas. After pressing, the wine is cooled and allowed to settle for 3-4 days. It is put in small oak barrels – of which a quarter are new – by gravity, with a fair amount of fine lies to feed the wine during maturation. After maturing for 18-20 months, the wine is carefully racked off and assembled for bottling without fining or filtration.
The Pommard 1er cru Poutures reveals violets, gooseberries, griotte cherries and bilberries with all the glycerin softness and savoury scent that one yearns for in Pinot from the Beaune. I was expecting pummeling Pommard, rough hewn and masculine, pruney and powerful, but instead found myself tasting a charming, pretty wine, confidently juicy, and delicately sensual like the brushing of red lips against skin. One feels this wine will flesh out in time moving through the spectrum of ripe plum towards leather and truffle but at the moment it is flush with youth, fresh and poised.
Whilst this wine struggled with my vegetable curry last night (what was I thinking of) I can imagine it with all manner of feathered game and even roast lamb.