Entirely destemmed, Bouley's 2019 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens mingles aromas of sweet red berries and plums with notions of rose petals, blood orange, exotic spices and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and sensual, it's elegant and seamless, with a deep and layered core of fruit, lively acids and melting tannins, concluding with a long and perfumed finish.

The 2018 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens has also turned out very well indeed, mingling aromas of cherries and red berries with hints of licorice, forest floor and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, bright and precise, it's mineral and fine-boned, reflecting its origins in the thinner, calcareous soils of Rugiens-Hauts that have little in common with the iron-rich clays of Rugiens-Bas. Long and penetrating, it's beautifully refined.

From a parcel located at the northern extreme of Les Rugiens Haut where there's very little soil, the 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens unfurls in the glass with a complex bouquet of sweet red-black fruits, orange rind, dark chocolate and potpourri. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with rich structuring tannins, lovely completeness and succulent balancing acids, concluding with a long finish.

The 2016 Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens (from "Rugiens-Haut") includes 30% whole bunch, whereas Thomas usually add no stems. He just found that the fruit was very ripe and the seeds almost back in color…so why not? Matured in 20% new oak, it has a crisp, slightly stemmy bouquet, very fresh with damp undergrowth and woodland scents filtering through the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation, quite linear and poised, darker fruit than expected with quite a stern but refreshingly saline finish that needs to show a little more charm. I am intrigued to see how this ages, and it may well surpass my banded score.