The 2014 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens has a perfumed, floral bouquet with hints of rose petal infusing the strawberry and red cherry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, tightly wound red fruit with just a touch of hardness on the finish that will be addressed by the time of bottling. There is good backbone here, although it is totally outshone by the fabulous les Grands Epenots this year.

The 2013 Pommard les Rugiens 1er Cru has a refined bouquet with bright red cherries and fresh strawberry fruit. The palate is quite sappy in the mouth, not complex, but nicely focused and more about the texture than the nuance at the moment. There is a nice dash of white pepper on the finish that completes this decent Pommard to enjoy over the next decade.

The 2012 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens has a lifted airy fresh strawberry and cranberry nose with fine mineralite. The palate is taut and crisp with great precision, demonstrating a rounded body in the mouth and respectable weight and definition on the finish. Very fine. It is always a pleasure to visit the indefatigable Mounir Saouma at his hideaway winery just off the Beaune periphique. He is a winemaker you can jest with, and he is often victim of my sardonic Essex humor (for example, when enthusing about obtaining one of five barrels of a premier cru, I dryly enquired whether the other four were sold off for distillation - I would not say that to Aubert de Villaine.) And I appreciate Mounir's wines. They used to taste a little too fat and almost over-powering in their youth, but I think he is fine-tuning his reductive winemaking style, achieving more freshness and vitality. I tasted his 2012 reds since the whites were still undergoing malolactic. Among the tidal wave of opinions, one that he emphasized was that to capture the quality of the vintage under cork, the wines should be bottled late, and not in spring when Burgundy will resound to the clinking of glass. Mounir also told me that he paid 50% more from wines in 2012 than in 2011, but that he intends to keep prices within 15% increase. Importers: Vintus LLC, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000, Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

The 2011 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens has a tight blackberry, bay leaf and seaweed bouquet. The palate is typically tannic and brusque on the entry with angular tannins, fine acidity and a strong saline finish. There is a hint of bitter chocolate on the aftertaste, perhaps from a touch of wood that needs time to be absorbed, therefore I suggest affording this Pommard several years in bottle – there is a lot of energy in this wine. Drink 2016-2030. Prior to launching into Maison Lucien de Moine’s 2012 reds with irrepressible winemaker Mounir Saouma, we revisited some of his 2011s that are now in bottle. To recap, Mounir is one of the last Burgundy producers to bottle his wines, since he is a great believer in extended elevage. There is a clutch of outstanding wines in this vintage, particularly at the grand cru level, where one must admire the consistency across the board. As always, readers are reminded that Lucien Le Moine’s wines are made in a stringently reductive method, therefore they always need more decanting time than other growers. Importers: Vintus LLC, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000, Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

The 2010 Pommard Les Rugiens is the most focused of these three Pommards. It shows terrific energy in its mineral-laced red fruit. Floral notes appear on the finish, adding lift and freshness, while underlying veins of minerality give vibrancy and focus. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2030. It is always fascinating to settle in for a tasting with proprietor Mounir Saouma. With the exception of Jadot, I can't think of a single maison that draws across such a broad range of top vineyards. When taken together, the whites and reds provide insight to the performance of dozens of the finest sites in the region. Saouma is not much for comparisons when discussing 2010, saying quite simply, -2010 is 2010.- The vintage was not without some disappointments. Because of the miniscule yields, there is no 2010 Romanee St. Vivant or Richebourg. As always, these are some of the most unmanipulated wines being made in Burgundy. When I tasted the 2010s in November 2011, the wines had never been sulphured or racked. Saouma had just finished bottling his 2009s (a vintage many bottled on the early side) in October 2011! Importers: Vintus LLC, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000, Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639