Our most recent Burgundy tasting group met at our usual restaurant to try a sampling of wines from the Rugiens vineyard in Pommard. Other than the starter Riesling, the wines were served blind, though we knew which wines were in the tasting.
1976 H. Josef Fries Riesling Auslese Noviander Honigberg Mosel Saar Ruwer. We started off with this 700ml bottle, which I guess must have been in use before such things were formalized for 750ml bottles. At the end of the evening, when we came back to this, I found myself wanting those extra 50ml back! In any event, it opens up with a really gorgeous nose of sweet apricot, nectarine, honey and toasted orange peel aromas supported by notes of kerosene, beeswax and minerals that yield an intriguing blend of sweet and drier aromas that really work for me. It is layered and fun and shows absolutely no drop-off from the beginning of the evening to the end of it. In the mouth, it definitely leads with the sweet peach, apricot and honey flavors, turning more to tropical pineapple and kiwi sorts of impressions through the well-balanced mid-palate. It is a languid and smooth wine that is multi-faceted and still sufficienty tense to pull it all together. The finish is a bit bitter, but it seems to flesh out the longer one stays with it. I really enjoyed this a whole lot, but do suggest drinking it fairly soon.
1995 Louis Jadot Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens. The nose of the first wine is more savory and earthy than pretty or floral—leading out with aromas of forest plants, peppercorns and black cherry fruit--with a warmer, riper core of cassis coming through slowly as the wine takes on air. It is a bit tight to start, but opens up slowly over time, taking on more nuance and even a bit of finesse when all is said and done. In the mouth, it offers a pleasant textural feel--gliding across the palate nicely and leaving a lasting impression without too much tannin interference. Cherry fruit, earth and tingly spice flavors are supported by a solid acidic backbone and the wine finishes with a nice kick that makes me think it will continue to improve for a while. Still, I think this is in a pretty good spot for drinking now.
1996 Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens. The second wine takes a little while to start to uncoil from its initial astingent tones, but it shows by far the greatest improvement of any of the wines with extended aeration. At its height, I sense aromas of white pepper, tomato plant, rose petals, dusty soil, limestone and pencil shavings riding atop some milky cherry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, it is rather earthy and the fruit is decidedly crunchy and tart. It feels direct and strident—with solid push and drive but just too much acidic boniness to make the cranberry and red cherry fruit truly appealing to me. As I said, it seems structured, fresh and forceful—just not all that pleasurable.
2001 Domaine Billard-Gonnet Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens Bas. The nose here shows more density and concentration than the previous two wines—with solid aromas of cherry fruit, cedar wood, powdered spices, mocha and milk chocolate. In the mouth, it is sort of toothsome, with a gripping texture and a fair dose of fine-grained tannin. It is fully-flavored, with lots of black raspberry and cherry fruit, chocolate, cool earth and stone sorts of flavors that are young and serious but a bit tough at times. The finish in particular needs some time to find greater grace and finesse.
2002 Jean-Marc Boillot Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens. The nose here has a lot going on—with scents of toasted bread, roasted meat, rawhide leather, tobacco leaf, damson, red flower petals, road tar, animal fur and pencil shavings providing a lot of aromatic complexity. However, in the mouth, it is young and decidedly tough right now—with a mean streak of acidity running all the way through the black cherry, toast, earth and charred wood flavors. The tannins are not nearly as overt as they were 2 years back, but the wine still isn’t ready for consumption, in my opinion.
2002 Domaine Billard-Gonnet Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens Bas. For my money, this is the prettiest and most elegantly-structured bouquet of the night—showing lots of red flower petals, sweet bohemian funk and fine baking spice aromas riding atop soft strawberry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, I find it to be rather pure-flavored and nicely transparent, with a good deal of toothsome yet pretty red fruit flavors supported by a solidly supportive acidic structure. It is a bit direct right now, but I can see this trending toward a more elegant future and I’d be happy to have some bottles in the cellar to put that hypothesis to the test.
-Michael