Winemaker Notes
Lovely dark garnet color with a beautiful shine. Good aromatic intensity. The nose is very fresh with notes of small red and black fruits on a mineral and smoky background (marl limestone). Well delineated, fresh and fruity on the palate. Good structure and balance, the tannins are present but fine. Persistent finish ending on the fruitiness and mineral freshness.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Don't worry about the pale color, because this is a graceful and filigreed red Burgundy. I love the way the floral and hazelnut aromas are married to the restrained red fruit on the very silky, medium-bodied palate. And then the structure gently asserts itself at the lingering finish, where it shows a delicate sweetness. From a 1-hectare vineyard 400 meters above sea level with a marl soil. 50% whole-cluster fermentation. Sustainable.
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.”
Occupying the most northerly combe (the French term for a valley that cuts through a hillside) of the Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelles sits to the west of and behind the hill of Corton. The most sought after whites of the village come from the slope of Pernand on the side of Corton where Pernand-Vergelles shares the Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne with Aloxe-Corton. The best red producing Cru is Les Vergelles, which overlaps into Savigny-les-Beaune. Reds here are fleshy, seductive and structured while whites are both lively and age worthy.