Our Stories

Émilie

Pulled up in 2016, the plot formerly known as Nadine, has been reborn as Émilie. Located at the furthest eastern point of the vineyard, and with the deepest soil in Clos Marey-Monge, Émilie is rich in clay. It has a very large internal surface area, resulting in a full-bodied wine of exceptional delicacy. Inspired by Émilie Marey-Monge, the industrious woman of Pommard, this sacred ground is one of the seven terroirs that makes our world go round. 

THE NEW LADY OF THE VINES 

Planted between 1949 and 1954, the Nadine plot had been the backbone of our wine’s spirit for more than 60 years. In 2016, the winemaking team made the difficult decision to pull up all of Nadine and replant new vines. The original rootstock clone selected for the Nadine plot by the Laplanche family back in the late 1940s was not optimal for the clay, moisture and drainage in that section of Clos Marey-Monge. Today, we are able to use sophisticated technological innovations to carefully select the correct rootstock for the complex soils, and subsoils, of the seven separate terroirs of Clos Marey-Monge.

With a new rootstock selected by our winemaker, replanting began in February 2017. With two-year-old vines being planted, it is expected that the new vines will yield fruit for our Vivant Micault vintages around 2022.


February 2016: Émilie prepares for her new Pinot Noir rootstocks

WHAT IS IN A NAME?

When it came time to plant the plot ; everyone at Château de Pommard decided that a new name must be chosen too. A name that would reflect the spirit of the new vines. And their future contribution to the Vivant Micault and Clos Marey-Monge Monopole vintages. These were new rootstocks. They represented a new personality in Clos Marey-Monge, not just an extension of an old one. We certainly didn’t want to disrespect the name or legacy of Mrs Nadine Laplanche. The bold and brilliant wife of Jean Laplanche was one of the strongest and most creative protectors of the estate. She helped put Château de Pommard on the map.


Lady of the Manor:
Émilie Marey-Monge in her youth

HEAD OF THE ESTATE

After much contemplation on how to rename Nadine, the team at Château de Pommard were united by just one name. It became very clear very quickly, that Émilie was the only title that could live up to the great expectations required of her. After all, when you think of all the strong, passionate, courageous and dedicated people in the history of Château de Pommard ; Émilie Marey-Monge is the first name to spring to mind. For 49 years, Émilie was the head of Château de Pommard, following the sudden death of her husband in 1818. For those near-five decades, it was Émilie who propelled the premises into the future. We often think of her running around Clos Marey-Monge, chasing her children, inspecting the vines, picking the fruit and being satisfied year after year of their premier cru quality.


Madame Monge:
Émilie Marey-Monge passed away in Pommard at age 89

Devastated by her husband passing ; Émilie was suddenly confronted with looking after her eight children and the entire Pommard estate on her own. In a letter written in 1819, from Émilie’s sister to her grandson, we learn: “Your poor Aunt Marey has a great deal to do, she must do the Pommard harvest alone. She will have some 300 casks of wine, what a worry for a woman!” Despite these concerns however, Émilie exceeds all expectations and expanded the estate’s wine production, reputation and distribution.


New Beginnings: Émilie’s 4.7ha is planted with a new rootstock every five seconds!

Born on March 7th 1778 in Rocroi, in Ardennes, Jeanne Charlotte Émilie Monge, was the eldest daughter of famous French mathematician – and Beaune native – Gaspard Monge and Marie Catherine Huart.


Soil Depth:
Émilie’s lowest elevation is home to the vineyard’s deepest and thickest soils, resulting from the alteration of fine alluvium of the Avant Dheune

Known as Émilie to her husband Nicolas-Joseph Marey, the son and propriétaire of Château de Pommard ; Émilie is described in several histories of Pommard as a beautiful, kind, generous and spiritual women with a good education and a sense of nobility. Indeed, revered Burgundy author, Jean Francois Bazin, recounts in his brilliant history of Pommard, of how well thought of Émilie was ; during one particular soirée held at Château Marey-Monge. “Despite the marvels of the table and the wine, what astonished me the most was the mistress of the house, the noble mother offering all the graces of physiognomy and the mind, all the charm of conversation, a kindness and a gaiety all the more attractive as they radiated from a great intelligence.”

Émilie passed away at the grand old age of 89. She is buried in Pommard cemetery, next to Clos Marey-Monge and several of her children.

LEGACY

We celebrate and honor Émilie’s legacy, and her tenacity ; by welcoming the new rootstock recruits of the 4.7 hectares plot in February 2017. It represents approximately one quarter of Clos Marey-Monge. These vines have all the ingredients they will need to produce a cuvée of great sensuality, juicy fruit flavors and full-bodiedness that would make Émilie Marey-Monge proud.


Émilie

Area 4,7141ha (4ha 34a 40ca)

Planted 2017

Percentage of Clos Marey-Monge 27%

Pruning Method Guyot-Poussard

0cm
Lumpy red-brown limestone soil
Clay 38%, Silt 40%, Sand 22%
Internal surface area: 320m2/g

15cm
Brown clay-limestone soil with low rock content

60cm
Clay silt-limestone with low rock content
Clay 36%, Silt 28%, Sand 36%
Internal surface area: 429m2/g

THICK AND DARK

The soils of Émilie are very thick (more than 130 cm) and have a sandy clay-limestone (36% clay) surface, clayey and / or clay-limestone-sandy texture. Stoniness is low and decreases with depth and is composed of rounded gravel and rare pebbles. The structural porosity is improved by the intense activity of earthworms creating channels throughout. Émilie’s soils are dark brown to dark yellowish brown in color with the presence of weak carbonates. The soils result from the alteration of fine alluvium deposited by the river Avant-Dheune during the last millennia. These alluvia are characterized by a silty loamy-clay-sandy texture.


Seven Terroirs:
 The plot map of Clos Marey-Monge