The château de Pommard

The Château de Pommard dates back to the 18th century. The estate consists of a 20-hectare enclosure, French gardens and a museum of vines and wine. It is on the Route des Grands Crus de Bourgogne, in Pommard.

History

It was in 1726 that Vivant Micault (squire and secretary to Louis XV) had the château built in the Regency style, along with its wine-growing outbuildings. The king and his court were fans of the wines of the Burgundy region. Wines were tannic and bitter when young. The château took the name of its builder: Château Micault.

In the 19th century, Emperor Napoleon I made it one of his places of rest, taking advantage of the château and its land. Then passing from family to family, it was in 2014 that the American entrepreneur Michael Baum bought it.

The château had a turnover of 6 million euros in 2014 and has 35,000 visitors each year. It is now the largest private vineyard in Burgundy. It produces 80,000 bottles of Château Pommard and 20,000 bottles of Clos du Château.

Conversion to biodynamics

The estate began its conversion to biodynamic farming in 2016. The philosophy of the château’s teams is to let nature control so that the vintage can truly express itself through the vines. As a result, the teams do not use any chemicals during their work in the vineyard. They use traditional composting methods. The grapes are harvested by hand. They are then fermented and aged using a winemaking process in which human intervention is as little necessary as possible.

The teams follow the lunar calendar to work the vines. It is horses that work the soils. It was in 2020 that they arrived on the estate with the aim of maintaining natural practices.

Certification

Since 2019, the château de Pommard has been certified Organic Agriculture (INAO) and since 2021, it has been labeled Biodynamic (Demeter).