2017 Pernand-Vergelesses Sous Fretille 1er Cru

Winemaker Christine Gruere ran Dubreuil-Fontaine, in the heart of Pernand-Vergelesses, with her father until his passing in 2016. She is always an informative, refreshingly witty winemaker in conversation, though in recent years her wines have suffered with frost and hail damage. Fortunately, she has a full portfolio this year that covers both white and red crus, the former already bottled. “The 2017 vintage was pretty early and like the year before, on April 26 and 27 there was risk of frost,” she informed me in her tasting room. “Fortunately, we didn’t get any damage even though the temperature went down to –2° Celsius. Then summer was warm and dry. We started picking a couple of vineyards in the last days of August, though the real harvest started September 4 and continued over the next nine days. The grapes looked good, with fine sugar levels. Not much sorting was necessary. We have good volume, averaging around 50hl/ha. The wines have turned out well, the whites not as concentrated as 2016, which was so intense. It’s an easy, pleasant early-drinking vintage. The alcohol level for the white was around 12.5° and around 13.5° for the reds.” The domaine’s wines often represent great value. Like so many other growers in the locality, the Corton-Bressandes is probably the pick of the reds despite being racked the previous day. Also, I would not ignore the Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru or the Pommard Les Epenots. The 2017s are bound to drink well in their youth and I agree with Gruere that they will be best enjoyed over the next five to 10 years for the better Premier and Grand Crus.