PERNAND-VERGELESSES
DOMAINE RAPET ET FILS
Rapet green-harvested all of the reds and some of the whites, including Sous Fretille, in July and August. Robin Rapet recalls the rain in August, which caused the onset of botrytis, which had to be sorted out later. Temperatures soared at the end of August to 38ºC (100ºF) and stayed at 35ºC (95ºF) in September, causing some sunburn on the old vines, which have fewer leaves to shelter the fruit. Harvested September 5–12, starting with the reds. The fruit was at 28ºC (82ºF) coming into the winery. Alcohol levels are 12.5–13.7%; pH levels are 3.3 for whites and 3.3–3.6 for reds, depending on the yield. “A lot of sorting, so our red production was actually slightly lower than in 2022,” remarked Robin. The domaine is now officially organic.
For the whites, “We kept a lot of lees in 2023—all of them, as they smelled so good.” Robin does one or two bâtonnages, just to finish the sugar. “The whites in 2023 have good freshness and tension. But the balance changed very quickly with the harvest date.”
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At Rapet, they used to bottle everything before the following harvest, but now Robin says, “Since the harvests have been earlier, we bottle later and take more time between each stop now.” They will still have bottled by the end of 2024, the wines having been moved to tank for four months just before harvest—“useful for keeping the freshness.”
Robin observes that the whites are “like 2020, for their tension and minerality.” And it is indeed a good flight of pithy whites.
White
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Bourgogne Aligoté
From La Grande Corvée de Bully, a parcel at 400m (1,300ft). All in stainless steel. Fresh lime. Zesty, with a bitter-sweet sherbet snap to finish. 2025–27. 82
Bourgogne Chardonnay La Grande Corvée de Bully
Vinified 20% in tank and 80% in 350-liter barrels, none of which were new. pH 3.3. Quite tight and pithy. Very savory and quite nicely bitter. Tart in a good way. 2025–28. 83
Beaune Premier Cru Clos de Champs Pimont
Fermented in concrete eggs and some larger oak barrels. Rich and full, with greengage fruit and litchee. Somewhat tropical. Rather fat. A more sumptuous style. I prefer the Pernand whites. 2025–28. 86
Pernand-Vergelesses Les Combottes
From a 0.8ha (2-acre) west-facing parcel at 320m (1,050ft) with white clay soil. Vinified 20% in stainless steel, 80% in 350-liter barrels. Bottled at end of August 2024. White-peach fruit. It has a flowery ripeness enveloping quite a firm core and carries to a savory finish. Very attractive. 2025–30. 85
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru En Caradeux
Rapet’s parcel is just after Le Charlemagne restaurant on the left as you enter the village from the Beaune side, running from the bottom to the top of the vineyard, right on the border with Les Belles Filles. One cement egg and 350-liter barrels, 20% new. A muscular white. Dense and sappy and punchy. Good. 2026–30. 88
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Le Clos du Village
From a parcel rented since Robin’s grandfather’s day, in a climat elevated to premier cru in 2000. “It is always very warm here because of the wall, so the harvest starts here.” 20% cement tanks and 350-liter barrels, 20% new. Creamy and rich into the palate. Lemon ice cream, rounded with rich citrus. Sweet and salty on the finish. I like this a lot. 2025–30. 88
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Sous Frétille
From two parcels in the upper section of the climat, where most of the vines were planted in the 1960s. “0.6ha [1.5 acres] catch the sunrise and 0.4ha [1 acre], the sunset. We have much less topsoil here than in Charlemagne, and even if it is exposed to the south, it is harvested late because of the trees at the top.” A 20hl foudre and 250-liter barrels, 20% new. 13.5% ABV. I like the citrus slice on the nose, which is also a touch floral. A much straighter palate than the En Caradeux; austere rather than muscular, with good grip and tension. Quite a powerful, sapid finish. Excellent Sous Frétille. 2026–32. 92
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
This is 95% En Charlemagne, with a touch of Le Charlemagne. Harvested September10–11. Notable focus and tension. It is channeled and taut; the core is strong and it drives into the finish, which is savory and saline. 2027–35. 96
Red
Beaune Premier Premier Cru Grèves
From 0.3ha (0.75 acre) at the top of the slope. Red floral notes on the nose, then light, bright, and finely textured, but super-sweet on the finish. Sweetness and minerality mix. The finish is nicely persistent but slightly jammy. 2026–32. 89
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Île de Vergelesses
Of the total 9ha (22 acres), Rapet has 0.6ha (1.5 acres), largely old vines, mid-slope, looking east, with iron in the soil. Blackcurrant aroma, with a smooth and silky glide into the palate. There is nicely contained sweetness, and it has good bitterness and crunch on the finish. It is much tighter than the fruitier Les Vergelesses, and longer as well. 2026–32. 91
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Les Vergelesses
30% whole-bunch. Light and herbal. Just a slight twang to the tannin, and fresh to finish, with a touch of earthiness. 2026–32. 86–87
SAVIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE
DOMAINE CHANDON DE BRIAILLES
Claude Joussett told me it was not necessary to do a green-harvest. “We have a great massal selection and debud in May, so we have a well-spaced 7 to 8 buds per vine. Debud, and you don’t get the botrytis or the acid rot. All May and June you must work for the health of the crop. We need a lot of labor. We have one person per hectare—13 people—so the work is done on time. The fruit was ripe.” She remarked that it was important to wait before harvesting the reds. They picked the whites on August 30–31, then waited until 6 September for the reds, picking only in the mornings. The average yield for the reds was 38hl/ha, and alcohol levels are 13.2–13.8%. “There was less rain here than south of Beaune. The most difficult thing was managing the heatwave. By the end of harvest, the berries in Lavières and Île des Vergelesses were shriveling. “We had to sort out all the figgy berries. “Lavières and Île are planted across the slope, so they have a full-south exposure.
“The grapes had very thick skins, but there was also a good quantity of juice, and we were surprised by that. It is a very solar vintage, with good terroir typicity, but you could easily miss that. We know that whole-bunch helps, so we used 100%. We also did a half-carbonic fermentation, adding CO2, closing the vat, and keeping it at 22–25ºC [72–77ºF]. In a hot vintage, we are very, very gentle—some remontage but without any pumps.” The fermenting juice is drained into large “buckets” then lifted by machine and tipped over the top of the cap. Some fermentations took a long time to consume all the sugar.
Everything is pressed in a basket press: “Not too strong. I do not touch it—I just give it three hours at 1.2 bar.” Once pressed off, the wine is kept in tank to finish fermenting at 22–24ºC (72–75ºF). The MLF was quick as soon as it was barreled down, and pH levels were 3.7–3.8.
Some of the red wines, including the Corton Clos du Roi, were bottled before the 2024 harvest, then others in October, but not the whites. Bottled with 700mg CO2.
They use corks produced by Espandan, “who own their forest, which is certified organic, and they cut the trees only every 14 years, so the cork is very dense.” And it is sealed with bee’s wax, not silicon. Chandon de Briailles designed its own bottle, with a long neck, for the 55mm (2.2-inch) corks.
“Full, ripe, wines,” was how Claude characterized the 2023s, adding, “the 2022s have more freshness and tension.” She mentions the 2003 vintage, but more by way of contrast. “2003 was much more stressed and dehydrated. The stress in 2003 was much earlier, while in 2023 it was later. The 2023s are not big in the mouth, which they could have been, given the heat later in the season.”
Black and spicy red wines. The whole-bunch style makes the reds quite grippy at the moment. I prefer the punchy whites.
White
Savigny-lès-Beaune Saucours
From a young parcel of vines below the R74, in a village lieu-dit with sand and small rocks. Aged in a new 10hl foudre. Oaky for now, but with surprisingly good concentration for such young vines, and I like the minerality and salinity on the finish. Promising. 2025–29. 83
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Île des Vergelesses
From 1ha (2.47 acres) of vines planted by Claude’s mother, right in the middle of the vineyard. “She recognized the stone in this part as being like that in Charlemagne.” Aged in two Stockinger barrels. “I do not like to pick the fruit too early, and I want good fruit ripeness.” This does have tropical fruit, round and rich, underscored by sapidity, and there’s some power at the end. 2027–33. 92
Corton Blanc Grand Cru
From two parcels, one in Bressandes, the other in Chaumes. Density and richness. Full-bodied. This has muscle and power; a ripe and savory profile and it pushes through on the finish. There is more shoulder on the white Bressandes than on the red. 2027–40. 95
Red
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Île des Vergelesses
From an east-facing section of this climat, high in limestone. 10% new oak. Not bottled when I tasted it, and it was to have another winter. It is exotic, but clean and fresh, having good tension and a vibration. There is a lot of grippy tannin, but also energy, saltiness, and sappiness on the finish. 2027–33. 87–88
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Les Vergelesses
“Here we have three terroirs in one: the fruitiness of Savigny; the earthiness of Aloxe, because of the clay; and the spiciness of Pernand. Just below the road from Île. This was picked after the rain, as it was not ripe beforehand, and we did a very strict sorting to eliminate any dry or rotten berries, removing about 10% of the grapes.” Very aromatic, with five-spice pepperiness on the nose. On the palate, it has rich, ripe, black cherry, white pepper, and star anise. Grip and a twang of licorice to the tannin. The whole bunches bring the lift at the end. 2027–33. 86–87
Savigny-lès-Beaune Aux Fourneaux
The fruit comes from the premier cru section, as well as the section classified as village, but the wine has to carry the lower classification. The parcels were planted in 1956, but some vines are replanted every year. The yield is never higher than 35hl/ha. Just 10% new oak. It has rich, dark fruit and Christmas spices. The stemmy spiciness gives freshness. Claude picked the lower part for acidity and the top for maturity, the former on September 6, the other on the 11th. “We are adapting our approach to the warmer climate.” 2026–32. 83–84
Savigny-lès-Beaune Premier Cru Les Lavières
From vines planted in 1956. 13.8% ABV. Already bottled when I tasted. Deep, black-cherry aroma. Sumptuous and rich. Quite sturdy for Lavières. Substantial black fruit, with a fair quantity of tannin. I like the freshness from the whole-bunch. 2026–32. 86
Corton Bressandes Grand Cru
From four parcels: two in Ladoix, with more clay and iron, and two in Aloxe, with more limestone. Picked on September 8. A forest-fruit aroma. Cooler and straight, with a firm core and fine-textured tannins. It has the richness of the vintage and yet refinement, too. A nice touch of austerity to finish. “It is important to keep Corton elegant,” remarks Claude. 2027–35. 93
Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru
From the top of the climat by Corton-Charlemagne. “We want a vertical wine with length and silky tannins.” It is definitely more exotic than the Bressandes, and the tannins are finely textured. It lingers on the floral finish. 2027–35. 94
ALOXE-CORTON
CLAIRE & STÉPHANE FOLLIN-ARBELET
From a tiny domaine that Stéphane Follin-Arbelet manages with his family. It takes him just two hours to harvest the 1,000 vines of Clos Blanche with his sons. All the work is done by hand, and the whole family pitches in. Strictly debudded. The trellis is kept high, with no trimming. Conventional treatments have mostly been replaced with alternatives such as milk for oidium, or vitamin C to boost immunity. In 2022, they acquired four small parcels in Le Charlemagne to have a second cuvée, which produces 900 bottles.
Corton Grand Cru Clos Blanche
Dense, rich, and concentrated on the mid-palate, then this pushes into an elegant and streamlined finish. 500 bottles. 2028–40. 95
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Less richness but more tension than the Clos Blanche. Strict, deep, and super-savory, with a firm cut of freshness. Powerful, smooth-stone finish. 2028–40. 95–96
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