From: Cote d'Or, Burgundy, France
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Tasting Notes: Sharp purple in color. . With aromas of ripe plum and earth. Medium body, granulated tannin, crisp acidity, and a pinch of white pepper.
The medieval town of Pernand-Vergelesses feels like a place of special powers and wands of wizardry. Built into the hill, the town is a natural amphitheater of spirit, dominated by its church, “Our Lady of Good Hope.” Settled by the Celts (and not the Romans), Pernand means “the Lost Source” and fittingly applies to the appellation’s underrated and over-delivering charm.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, we like old, historic things at APS. We like old churches and roads, historical events and figures, and wine estates that have been around since our great-great-grandmothers. Established in 1879, Dubreuil-Fontaine is a fixture of the Côte de Beaune. Christine Gruère-Dubreuil is the fifth generation and oversees a property of 20 hectares divided among the southeastern hill of Corton, and the villages of Beaune, Volnay, Pommard and her hometown, Pernand-Vergelesses. Bourgogne Aujourd’Hui, France’s leading publication on the wines of Burgundy, named her one of “Les Femmes aux Commandes,” along with Anne Gros and Caroline Lestime of Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard.
Change at the estate has been patient but noticed since Pierre and his son Bernard relinquished control to Christine. After vineyard expansion in the 1970s (from the acquisition of the house Rameau-Lamarosse) and the completion of a new winery in 1985, the Domaine destined its improvement of the status quo. Christine influenced the style and more importantly, the taste of the wines. For red wines, she focused on: initial sorting taking place in the vineyard, removal of all the stems, stainless steel fermentation, fewer punch-downs, and a glass ceiling of 30% new oak for the Grand Cru wines. The wines today are more energetic and textural, they are more Christine. She’s in a wine element of her own, a Dubreuil-Fontaine 21st-century woman.
