Thank You for a Remarkable Ten Years

Dear Friends and Family,

For me, this holiday season has meant getting out and connecting with friends and family in California. This “silent time” on New Year’s Day is my chance to turn inward and reflect. As we stand on the threshold between one year and the next, we’re gifted a rare moment—a pause to step back from the whirlwind of daily life and remember the memories and lessons the year has brought us. 

2024 marked ten years since my wife, Julie, and I acquired Château de Pommard. During this time, we converted from conventional agriculture to biodynamic farming. This holistic approach emphasizes harmony with nature by avoiding synthetic chemicals and focusing on soil health and biodiversity. If you have followed our journey, you know we received our AB Organic Certification in 2019 and our Demeter Biodynamic Certification in 2021, but importantly, you’ve tasted the vast difference in the quality of our wines. The rising recognition of and demand for our Clos Marey-Monge and Famille Carabello-Baum cuvées continue to reach greater heights. The most respected wine critics and connoisseurs now recognize and praise our work, a remarkable shift from where we stood a decade ago. This year, James Suckling and Decanter Magazine have identified several of our cuvées as among the top 100 wines in France and the world. 

At the same time, Mother Nature continues to challenge us with different growing conditions every year. On the one hand, this makes Burgundy fascinating—every vintage has its own identity. But, in 2024, we faced one of the most challenging years on record with extreme weather conditions, including frost, hail, and record rainfall, significantly impacting yields. These challenges tested our vineyard’s resilience, reducing yields and inspiring us to refine our biodynamic practices to protect our vines better and preserve their unique character. The global climate changes we are experiencing are fundamental, and we must continually search for new, nature-based solutions. We are fully committed to maintaining our organic and biodynamic certifications. 

While demand for fine wines remained relatively flat in 2024, organic and biodynamic wines saw year-over-year growth of 15 to 20%. Entering 2025, we must work hard to balance our growing demand and the size of each year’s harvest. We will introduce an allocation system to continue making our wines available to our loyal customers. This system will allow us to allocate quantities of wine fairly, ensuring equitable access while balancing the challenges of each year’s harvest. It is the fairest way to continue engaging with everyone who has been part of this journey with us since 2014. More information about the new system will be coming in January with the release of Clos Marey-Monge Simone 2022. I’ve just enjoyed a bottle over Christmas dinner with my two boys, Zachary and Tempest, in San Francisco, and I can assure you that you don’t want to miss this vintage. 

We will have more about these and other exciting developments for you in the New Year. For now, we wish you a beautiful New Year and thank you for being with us over the past decade. Your enthusiasm for what we do inspires us every day, and the smiles on your faces when you taste our wines tell us all we need to know. 

With heartfelt gratitude,

Michael Baum

CEO and Propriétaire