Domaine Laleure-Piot Pernand-Vergelesses Les Vergelesses Premier Cru 2009
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At the domaine, the average age of the vines is thirty years. The grapes are all hand-picked and meticulously sorted. Frederic Laleure is very serious about the provenance of his barrels: Nevers for the reds (18 months minimum aging) and Vosges or Allier for the whites (12 months). Every year, a third of these barrels is being replaced.
The white must is maintained at a low temperature during vinification in order to fully extract the fruit of the Chardonnay grape. The juice will be fermented at a medium temperature, and then put in oak barrels where the second fermentation (malolactic) can begin. They also produce a Bourgogne Aligote which is very well regarded locally for its reasonable amount of acidity.
As for the reds, they also go through a cold maceration, followed by a long, protracted fermentation. The result is a deep, spicy, earthy wine, not as precocious as some of the other producers in the same appellations.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A classic source of exceptional Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, the Côte de Beaune makes up the southern half of the Côte d’Or. Its principal wine-producing villages are Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.
The area is named for its own important town of Beaune, which is essentially the center of the Burgundy wine business and where many negociants center their work. Hospices de Beaune, the annual wine auction, is based here as well.