Pernand Vergelesses

This area appears to have some pretty good values. However, the first one I tried yesterday 2017 Chandon de Brailles Pernand-Vergelesse 1er Cru Ile Vergelesses was super jammy and ripe with just a hint of sawdust on the nose. More like a CA Pinot than Burg to me. It did do better with some air time, but the fruit was overwhelming regardless.

I tried it because it got great ratings, but now I’m wondering if that’s not because lots of the typical critics love the bombastic ripe style.

Is that the typical style of this area? Does it just need some bottle age to mellow and show more interesting characteristics?

Odd, I have always considered PV to be more of a sour cherry note young with higher acid. Haven’t had any 2017s.

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I haven’t had that experience but have only tried a handful of producers. I really like Delarche in Pernand-Vergelesses for both red and white. Unmistakably Burgundian, at a very reasonable price.

Agree with Kris, that doesn’t sound like Briailles at all unless there’s been a style change at the domaine. They are usually very crunchy, tangy wines with minimal oak influence.

+1 on what Kris and Marshall said. That’s very unusual, both for the commune and for that producer. I got no explanation.

I buy a fair amount of Pernand, and that sounds odd. They can be on the bigger side for burgundy, but I’ve never found them jammy.

Yeah it’s not what I expected for sure. There were 2 other experienced tasters there and they both found it like pure blackberry jam right off the bat. It did mellow some with air. We only had it open for 10 min or so right out of the cellar, so unsure how it developed over an hour or 2.

But I did pick up 3 bottles anyway for the cellar. Will try some others from PV for comparison. Thanks for the feedback.

Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like the wine I had back in March. My CT note below:

Very well judged ripeness bestows the wine with lovely perfumed red cherry fruit accented with damp forest floor on a foundation of firm but elegant tannins, lifted acidity, and a lingering soft finish. 92+

Well we agree on the elegant tannins and lingering soft finish. I’m not sure about the well judged ripeness at least in this bottle.

Is it possible this was cooked during transit/storage?

That’s not what a cooked wine tastes like. I’m wondering if perhaps the wine was too warm when you tasted it.

I didn’t think so, but super strange. Came right out of their cellar room at 57.

thats a superior value and wine there. The fruit is present. Some call it rustic, some foursquare. Older versions soften but never get intricate, IMHO. i like this corridor of the CdB. From Pernand to Corton to Savigny on down to Pommard are values. Fruit and a fullness that require time

If you want to cellar that and enjoy the value, try Simon Bize aux Vergelesses. This is a much more delicate wine that rewards profoundly with age.


good talk on pernand here

I have had some 2010s which were relatively lean and 2012s that were rather high in acid, the other end of the spectrum from jammy. I would normally regard the wines of Pernand to be a little restrained, but to soften with a decade of aging.

This note is more in keeping with my experiences of the 2017 in barrel and in bottle.

2017 as a whole, and at Chandon de Briailles in particular, is characterized by moderate ripeness, correct acids and very supple tannins. The fruit is very expressive, but more because of the wines’ open personalities than any kind of exaggerated ripeness or long hang time. The domaine is also using less sulfur than in the past, meaning they are even more expressive young. And extraction is gentler, too, which further emphasizes supple fruit. This cuvée ages very well (we drank the delicious 1959 last year) so I’d just wait a bit longer for more complexity to emerge and the youthful fruit to calm down if you find it too much right now…

It’s interesting to reflect more generally in light of Andrew’s comments, however, that one seldom talked about consequence of making wines in a more and more gentle way, with more whole cluster, shorter macerations, less pigeage, gentler pressing, less new oak, and shorter élevage, is that wines in Burgundy are becoming more and more fruit-driven as a result. In this respect, the concept of gulpable, fruit driven and very lightly structured “glou glou” wines, which emerged out of the natural wine movement, is definitely permeating the Burgundian mainstream and many young producers are drinking wines like this and increasingly making wines like this. In so far as what makes Burgundy taste like “Burgundy” is not just about site influence but also about how the primary fruit is complexified (patinating is the word I am increasingly inclined to use, as I think it describes very well what goes on) in the production process, then you can expect to encounter more and more Burgundies that just taste like fruit and not like “Burgundy” per se. I should emphasized that I don’t think that this applies to the Chandon de Briailles wines, but I can think of more and more wines to which it does. Some consumers will surely appreciate a trend that calls into question exactly what Burgundy is, while others will regret that it is harder to find the sorts of wines that, for them, constituted the region’s appeal.

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Thank you William for your very thoughtful and instructive response. Greatly informative and appreciated.

Very, very interesting comment William. I don’t have the experience that you but this echoes the things I hear between the lines in Burgundy, including at estates that are renowned for their “vins de garde”. Not sure that this means things are moving in the “right” direction, only time will tell.

William,

Very interesting, indeed! I don’t suppose you can give some examples of Domaines that have moved to a more ‘glou glou’ (glug, glug!) style? TIA!

I am a big fan of this producer and have never had a wine from them that resembles this note, although I have only tasted a few 2017s, not including this one. A friend of mine has consulted here for a decade. During that time, the wines have moved from a very lean tannic style to more fruit-forward, but I’ve never had anything remotely ‘jammy’.

A big ‘plus one’ for Delarche for deeply classic, ageworthy Burgundy that is always well balanced. I also find Rapet and Pavelot consistently fine or better.

Dan Kravitz

I’m a little hesitant to single out anyone without developing my thoughts more completely and explicitly, as the above was intended more as a stimulus to discussion (and to see if anyone else had the same reflection) than a definitive pronouncement, and I wouldn’t want any one producer to feel they were being “picked on”… happy to correspond by PM however!

Interesting discussion… I have not tried Chandon de Briailles in recent vintages but just had a really good 2011 SLB Aux Fornaux from them.

Otherwise I would recommend Domaine Rollin in Pernand-Vergelesses (I do import them so not objective) but they make really good classic wines both red and white. Some would call them a bit rustic and foursquare, but I think they are great, and they evovle fantastic with af few years in bottle. Escpecially their Pernand-Vergelesses village wines are great value.

Agree with William about the trend in Burgundy right now. Many young winemakers are making very fruity wines that taste fantastic right out of the bottle. It will be interesting to see how they evovle with bottle age.