2016 Pommard Les Rugiens

(from the steep northernmost part of Rugiens-Haut on thin soil over the mother rock; Bouley vinified this wine with an unusually high 30% whole clusters because the seeds were so dark in 2016): Full red. Sappy, aromatic nose combines red raspberry, cherry and smoky minerality. The silkiest and smoothest of these 2016s but with its vibrant cherry and red berry flavors given precision and lift by a firm spine of calcaire minerality. Intense, sweet and utterly suave wine with a mounting finish featuring noble tannins that reach the front teeth. This is typically a very crystalline style of wine (without the volume of Rugiens-Bas) thanks to its rocky energy, and in 2016 it maintains juiciness and precision without coming off as austere. As with the family's holding in Volnay Caillerets, these wines were mostly spared by the frost.