Comte Armand
Beaune, Cote d’Or, Burgundy, France
Comte Armand
My wife Susan and I were celebrating a delayed wedding anniversary last week at Round Hill in Jamaica. One night we had the best fried chicken either of us has ever eaten paired with a 2015 Volnay Fremiets from Comte Armand I brought with us. The chicken was burnished and crisp. The wine was delicate, with red fruit and mineral tension that cut through the salt and richness. We drank what we wanted because we were hungry. Because we were sitting together.
I first tasted the wines of Comte Armand at a tasting in the early 2000’s when someone poured the 1985 and 1989 Clos des Epeneaux. I had not had a lot of Comte Armand previous to that, but I knew both vintages were strong and had read enough about Comte Armand to know that these were two very special bottles. The wines were incredible and I have bought, sold and drunk as much as possible over the years.
Comte Armand is not easy to find. The domaine is small and their production is even smaller. The reputation has grown quietly, the way reputations grow when people who know Burgundy keep finding something exceptional and keep their mouths shut about it. The wines are allocated, they arrive sporadically and when they do, they disappear. What makes this producer worth the pursuit is not just the wine and their incredible fruit; it is the hands that have held the domaine and the team responsible for the production in the vineyards and winery.
Pascal Marchande built Comte Armand into something extraordinary and he passed the baton to Benjamin Leroux in 1999 who was all of 24. He left in 2014 to build Maison Benjamin Leroux. Paul Zinetti followed and made the Volnay we drank in Jamaica. Jane Eyre was appointed earlier this year and with her passion for fragrance and delicacy over artifact and ripeness, I’m excited for the future of this Domaine.
The recent Michelin Guide to Burgundy named Pascal Marchande and Benjamin Leroux among the region's top producers. This was not news to anyone who has been paying attention, but a confirmation of what Burgundy nuts already knew. However, it does say something remarkable about Comte Armand as a crucible. This is a domaine that has trained and released the people who went on to define the modern era in Burgundy.
The relationship is not about the wine. The wine is evidence of what happens when you give gifted people land and time and the permission to work without compromise. Marchande understood this. Leroux understood this. Zinetti understood it when he made that 2015. Eyre, working with the likes of Ernie Loosen, Christopher Newman and Dominique Lafon understands it.
I sat with Susan on that island and that special place overlooking the sea. The chicken. The wine. The incredibly beautiful night. Nobody said a word about whether the pairing made sense; it just did.
From The Cellar
2015 Volnay Fremiets, Comte Armand
Medium ruby. Red cherry and dark plum. Mineral tension on the entry that opens into a sustained mid-palate. The finish is clean, the structure is present but not aggressive. This is a wine that does not announce itself. It works because it listens to what is in front of it.