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In the brilliant and very structured vintage of 2005, it is not surprising that Domaine Michel Gaunoux has produced several masterpieces. The 2005 Grands Épenots is a magical young bottle of Pommard that seems likely to easily live a hundred years. The bouquet is very, very deep and currently very closed, as it reluctantly offers up a stunning mélange of cherries, blood orange, smoke, gamebirds, a great base of complex soil tones, an exotic touch of mint, orange zest and mustard seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid right to the sappy core, with beautifully tangy acids, ripe, substantial tannins and absolutely brilliant length and grip on the still very primary finish. This will take many more years to fully blossom and reach its zenith, and should prove to be one on the longest-lived wines of this magical and very long-lived vintage. (Drink between 2025 - 2125)John Gilman | 96+ JGA ripe, serious and brooding nose is composed of impressively complex red currant, blue berry, plum, violet and warm earth aromas. Given how the ’05s are generally showing today, the tannins are actually quite fine and like the ’08 Rugiens, the mouth feel of the robust yet focused flavors is highly sophisticated. This should be capable of aging for decades and will need at least one more.Burghound | 94 BHA big, dense red, packed with sweet cherry, raspberry, spice and mineral flavors. It’s less forthcoming yet more concentrated than the Rugiens, yet shows freshness and length. Best from 2012 through 2030. 250 cases made, 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux has gained in depth and dimension with élevage and showed very well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with an expressive, youthfully fruit-driven bouquet of raspberries, cherries, candied peel and rose petals, framed by a subtle touch of new oak. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy, with succulent acids and elegant tannins. While this isn’t as rich, muscular or gourmand as the 2018, it’s an immensely seductive wine that will drink well comparatively young—though readers should still plan on exercising at least a decade’s patience.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPPaul Zanetti tends to make two different cuvées from the Clos des Epeneaux, one from younger vines and one from the older, left side of the premier cru, planted between 65 and 98 years ago. The combination in bottle is definitely more than the sum of its parts. This is not a blockbuster vintage for what can be an ageworthy wine, but it’s still appealing in a lighter, more approachable mode, with some tannic grip but lots of perfume, finesse and succulent berry sweetness. Drinking Window 2024 - 2029Decanter | 94 DEC(Domaine Comte Armand/Clos des Epeneaux Pommard "Clos des Epeneaux" 1er Cru Red) There is still just enough wood present to merit mentioning as it frames the herbal tea-inflected blend of both red and dark currant scents that are cut with leather and underbrush nuances. The supple medium-bodied flavors possess reasonable though not distinguished mid-palate concentration before terminating in a lingering if slightly attenuated finish. The supporting tannins are sufficiently firm that this youthfully austere effort will need at least a few more years of keeping first. A Clos des Epeneaux of relative finesse. (Drink starting 2027)Burghound | 91 BH

The 2017 Pommard “Pézerolles” from Domaine Lafarge is another wonderfully red fruity wine in the cellars this year. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a refined blend of strawberries, red plums, raw cocoa, pigeon, a very complex base of soil, vanillin oak and a floral topnote redolent of roses. On the palate the wine is elegant, pure and very much defined by its soil, with a great core of sappy fruit, ripe, seamless tannins and outstanding precision and grip on the refined, pure and nascently complex finish. This is a very, very elegant Pommard. (Drink between 2027 - 2075)John Gilman | 93+ JGThe 2017 Pommard Les Pezerolles 1er Cru offers a mixture of red and blue fruit, quite Volnay-like on the nose, touches of violet developing in the glass with aeration. The palate is well balanced with sappy tannin, rather powerful but elegant, hints of pain d’epices towards the feminine finish. Very long and tempting.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMA very fresh and restrained blend of red and blue fruit is liberally sprinkled with spice and floral notes and in particular violet. There is good volume and solid mid-palate density to the seductively textured middle weight and overtly stony flavors that are shaped by refined tannins on the beautifully complex and sneaky long finish. Textbook Pézerolles.Burghound | 91-93 BH2.5 barrels made, a joint record with 1999. Treated like the Clos du Château (see there for detail). Dense red purple with a generous intensity of fruit on the nose, raspberry to the front. The wine fills the mouth with a sweet generous ripeness, with the pure red fruit notes coming back after the Pommard tannins. Very persistent. Purity and energy from hand destemming, perhaps? Tasted: November 2018.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JMThe 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles offers up pretty aromas of red fruits, plums and spices. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied, with a vibrant core of fruit, fine-grained but chalky tannins and a pure, fragrant finish. It’s an elegant, supple Pommard that I suspect will be sneakily long-lived.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90-92 RP