Y. Clerget Pommard 1er Cru "Les Rugiens" 2015

91-93 VM

Notes:

The 2015 Pommard Rugiens is another super-expressive wine. Rich, pliant and wonderfully giving, the Rugiens is built on a serious core of fruity intensity. Black cherry jam, lavender, menthol and spice build into the supple, extroverted finish. I very much like the wine's immediacy, not to mention its impeccable overall balance. Galloni/Vinous 91-93

What impressed me so much about this wine is its overall balance and purity. Tons of fruit with plenty of power. This is a Pommard of precision finesse and elegance. Vins Rare 93+

Producer: Domaine Y. Clerget is a historic family estate based in Volnay, with roots in Burgundy extending back for centuries. The 2015 vintage is particularly significant because it marked Thibaud Clerget’s first vintage back at the domaine. His father, Yvon, had stopped making wine after the 2009 vintage, and for several years the family’s fruit was sold to other domaines while Thibaud completed his training. Before returning home, he worked with Henri Boillot and Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, as well as Domaine Drouhin Oregon and wineries in New Zealand. In 2015, at just 25 years old, he restarted production under the family label. The domaine encompassed roughly six hectares at the time, with an impressive collection of vineyards stretching from Volnay and Pommard to Meursault and Clos de Vougeot. This makes the 2015 Les Rugiens more than simply a strong vintage of Pommard—it comes from the vintage that effectively began the modern chapter of Domaine Y. Clerget.
Vineyard: Les Rugiens is one of Pommard’s most celebrated Premier Cru vineyards, situated on the southern side of the appellation and divided between Rugiens-Hauts and Rugiens-Bas. For the 2015 bottling, Clerget used fruit from Rugiens-Bas, where the domaine had substantially older vines; contemporary reporting places them around 60–80 years old. The younger vines in Rugiens-Hauts were not included in the domaine bottling that year. Rugiens is particularly well suited to Pommard’s reputation for structured, powerful Pinot Noir, and the combination of old vines and the ripe, concentrated 2015 vintage produced a wine with considerable depth while retaining the mineral drive associated with the site. Steen Öhman described the 2015 as rich and intense, with abundant fruit focused by structure and mineral power.
Winemaking: The 2015 was produced during Thibaud Clerget’s first harvest in charge, when he was beginning to reshape the domaine’s approach after several years without estate bottling. The finished wine shows the combination of concentration and precision that became central to the renewed domaine. Contemporary reviews consistently emphasize its substantial fruit, density and structure, but also its balance and energy. Wine Advocate found considerable volume and depth along with supple texture, while Vinous emphasized its density, fine-grained character and floral lift. The result is a serious expression of Rugiens from a naturally concentrated Burgundy vintage, with the structure and depth to develop over a long period in bottle.
Technical Details: 2015 vintage; 100% Pinot Noir; Pommard Premier Cru AOC; Les Rugiens; Côte de Beaune, Burgundy; 750ml; 13.5% alcohol. The wine was produced primarily from old vines in Rugiens-Bas, including a parcel Vinous reported at approximately 80 years old. The 2015 vintage was Thibaud Clerget’s first vintage as winemaker at the family domaine, making this an especially interesting bottle within the estate’s recent history.
Food Pairing: The depth and structure of mature Pommard make this particularly well suited to richer savory dishes. Roast duck, beef tenderloin, braised short ribs, veal chops and game birds would all work beautifully. Mushroom dishes are another natural match, particularly porcini or morels, while aged Comté or other firm Alpine cheeses would work well as the wine continues to develop secondary and savory character.