The Clos des Epeneaux is a 5-hectare walled monopole premier cru in the centre of Pommard, owned exclusively by Comte Armand (also known as Domaine des Epeneaux) for generations. For over a century before 1994, it was the estate's only wine, producing from this exceptional site a Pommard of extraordinary concentration, structure and longevity that consistently stands above the appellation's other premier crus. Wine Spectator named it the greatest Pommard ever produced when reviewing the 1996 vintage and placed it at number nineteen in their Wine of the Year list for 1999.

Wine Spectator awarded 97 points to the 1996 Clos des Epeneaux, describing it as 'a deep wine in which you have to put your nose far into the glass to assimilate all its subtleties, with notes of black fruit, game, minerals and currants completing the palate, proving how dense and thick it is.' The 1996 Burgundy vintage was one of the great Cote de Beaune red wine years: a cool, structured season that produced wines of firm tannins, natural acidity and exceptional mineral definition. For Pommard, where such tannic structure is a virtue rather than a flaw, 1996 is a legendary vintage.

The Clos des Epeneaux at thirty years of age occupies a rarefied space: a wine that has evolved well beyond its initial formidable tannic shell into a complex, mature Burgundy of great finesse, yet still capable of holding for at least another decade given the vineyard's track record with old vintages. The monopole's clay and limestone soils and the estate's biodynamic viticulture (introduced progressively from the mid-2000s under Benjamin Leroux's stewardship) have always produced wines of remarkable longevity. This 1996 is among the most historically significant bottles of Pommard in existence.

This is at or approaching its peak; open anytime over the next ten to fifteen years. Decant two to three hours and serve at 17 degrees. Pair with game terrine, roast venison or aged hard cheese.