Pommard Premier Cru, Les Arvelets, Jane Eyre, 2022

When our good friend Jane Eyre was offered the grapes from an exciting 1er Cru site, overlooking her garden, she immediately approached us with the opportunity, knowing how much we love “Special Projects” here at Honest Grapes. Jane has plenty of experience crafting fine wines from Cote de Beaune vineyards in Savigny-le-Beaune, Beaune, Volnay and Corton but this will be her first ever Pommard 1er Cru Les Arvelets and will be offered exclusively in the UK by Honest Grapes.

So what is this, exactly? Well, Jane has worked both with the grower and courtier selling these grapes before, so knows just how good their fruit can be. Coincidentally (though of no bearing to the decision!), Jane’s house actually overlooks the plot too, which piqued their interest. I guess Jane could keep an eye on the pruning over lunch! Arvelets is a 1er cru vineyard which runs alongside the river L'Avant Dheune and is uniquely positioned slightly in the valley as a result. In the past, Pommard had a reputation for making a number of rather four-square wines whose tannins were more rustic than the silken, supple cuvées of neighbouring Volnay. However climate change and increasingly sophisticated tannin management from conscientious winemakers like Jane, have ensured that more wines have been brought, quite literally, out of the shade. With the intensely hot weather we saw in the summer of 2022, and the generally south-facing exposition of the sub-plot, which abuts 1er Cru Les Charmots, lying just behind Clos de Verger and Clos de la Commaraine, achieving full ripeness was not an issue. Importantly, as the whole vineyard slopes down to the river and has a solid weight of water-retaining red clay over it’s limestone and limestone pebbles throughout, it suffered less from the accompanying drought . This really is supercharged Pommard.

It probably explains why Burgundy royalty AF Gros has made a Pommard Arvelets for many years as has another good friend of ours Philippe Pacalet. As the climate continues to heat up, vineyards like Arvelets are really benefitting enormously. We know Jane is going to take great care of these grapes and the resulting wine will be nothing short of excellent. Jane was recently awarded a second star by Le Revue du Vin de France (a sort of Michelin equivalent for winemakers) and then winning their coveted ‘negociant of the year’ (first woman and first foreigner to do so).