Domaine Comte Armand

A 9ha domaine Comte Armand produces the esteemed monopoly Clos des Epeneaux, along with a range of wines from plots located in Volnay and Auxey-Duresses. The Clos des Epeneaux is a magnificent parcel of five hectares acquired by Nicolas Marey at the end of the 18th century. The vineyards are certified organic and cultivated biodynamically.

Since Paul Zinetti took over the winemaking in 2014 the wines have evolved further. In the words of Jasper Morris MW they have taken on a more ‘enhanced, refined and pure style.’ All grapes are de-stemmed with a longer time resting on the skins than many. Paul said from the outset that he wanted to make to make a less tannic wine in the Clos, and one which is more about aromatic length.

Burgundy

FRANCE

The Domaine du Comte Armand exploits the vineyards of the Clos des Epeneaux as a monopoly and plots located in the municipalities of Volnay and Auxey-Duresses.

The Domaine des Epeneaux owes its name to the Clos des Epeneaux, a magnificent five-hectare plot constituted by Nicolas Marey, at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1828, Le Clos des Epeneaux and its buildings, located in the center of the village of Pommard and known as the Fief de Rancy, entered the heritage of the Count Armand family.

The Domaine remained thus constituted until 1994, when it was first enlarged by vineyards located in Volnay, then with plots in the village of Auxey-Duresses.

Today, the Domaine des Epeneaux covers a total area of 9 hectares and strives to develop wines that are, for everyone, the faithful expression of their terroir.

Viticulture

With an area of 5.23 ha, it is one of the ten largest monopolies on the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits (1st crus and grands crus combined). The age of the vines varies between 30 and 80 years with a planting density of 12,000 feet per hectare and where mass selection is required. It is separated into 4 separately vinified units. There are 4 major differentiation criteria which are: The year of planting The depth of the mother rock (20-30 cm on the upper part and 60-80 cm on the lower part of the Clos) The structure of the soil The texture of the soil

Winemaking

he wines are in the very image of the quality of the fruits from which they come. Starting from the reflection that the berry is the fruit itself, the harvest is 100% scraped, but not troddened in order to keep a high proportion of whole berries. The winemaking period will then be divided into 3 distinct stages: A pre-fermentation maceration period of 5 to 8 days at a temperature of 13-14°C. Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation over a period of 5 to 10 days Finally, the post-fermentation maceration that according to the year will go from 3 to 15 days In the majority of cases, total maceration lasts about 4 weeks, which is rather long compared to traditional Burgundian methods. However, we think that it is probably more interesting to give time to the material extracted during winemaking, to organize itself into a more stable and harmonious structure. The moon, which greatly governs our pace of work at the vineyard, has also intervened since the 2001 vintage at the winery. Thus, these 4 weeks of maceration correspond to a lunar sidereal cycle (rhythm governing fluids on earth). The wines will then be aged at this constant rhythm of 28 days in order to preserve as much as possible the vibratory state of the water of constitution of the grapes at the time of cutting. If this idea may seem most wacky to the eyes of a majority of you, it allows us, beyond a rigorous work rhythm, to obtain wines of better precision and minerality. In no way should we forget that water is the main element in the constitution of wine. Depending on the appellations and the age of the vines, the wines will be aged from 18 to 24 months in barrels with proportions of new wood ranging from 0% for the Villages, to 30% for the old vines of Clos des Epeneaux. Conservation Most of our wines are not glued or filtered to offer you all of their quality. However, despite microbiological controls throughout the aging, we strongly advise you to store our wines at a temperature around 12°C.