2019 Pommard Les Perrières, Domaine Launay-Horiot

This 2.2 hectare monopole vineyard lies next to the RN74 on the right hand side as you drive north out of Beaune. It’s easy to spot Xavier’s personalised cabotte in the heart of the vineyard. The soil here is really quite sandy, and some of the vines are over 100 years old, though obviously some have been replanted over the past century. Still, the average age remains pensionable. This is not your typical old school, slightly hard, village Pommard. This is fragrant and inviting with a lovely gravelly stoniness. Not too weighty and with a lovely crunch, that belies the warmth of the vintage, and refined cool flavours that stretch into the distance. If only all village Pommard was this good.