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Visit to Paul Pernot & Fills with Jeanne-Marie de Champs of Domaine et Saveurs

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On this day shortly before the 2017 Hospices de Beaune weekend, our visits commenced with Paul Pernot in Puligny Montrachet.

For the first time, we were joined by the next generation of Paul Pernot & Fils, the lovely Alvina, who just finished university and speaks very good English.

The estate has developed over several decades, having its origins as a negociant company in Puligny before the turn of the last century.The Pernot brothers have been purchasing vineyards over the last thirty years, buying many Grand Cru sites before the prices rose to today’s dizzying heights.

Though fermentation and maturation varies by grape variety and plot, the white wine is generally barrel fermented and lightly fined and filtered. The reds are mostly destemmed, then have a ten day maceration in concret tanks. They are rarely filtered.

We tasted many wines, including the crisp refreshing 2016 Aligote that gains complexity from aging on the lees. It’s interesting to note that Aligote can also be used in Cremant if there are not enough Chardonnay grapes.

We tasted many wines, with Mr. Pernot helpfully pointing out where each parcel was located on the map.

We began with the crisp refreshing 2016 Aligote that gained complexity from aging on the lees. It’s interesting to note that Aligote can also be used in Cremant if there are not enough Chardonnay grapes.

The Bourgogone  2016 came from a variety of villages, it was very buttery and rich. The wine spent 10 months in barrels before clarification and bottling. The Puligny-Montrachet village 2016 came from an assortment of parcels, very elegant and structured with 20% new French oak. The 2016 La Piece Sous le Bois, Meursault Premier Cru was quite delicious, as was the Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru Chalumaux 2016 was very structured with great integration of oak – a more feminine expression of Chardonnay.

Then there was the tight, structured Puligny Montrachet Clos de la Garenne 2016 with a long length. Very mouth filling, and here a more masculine style of Chardonnay. The 2016 Champ Canet-Clos de la Jacquelotte Puligny-Montrachet Premiere Cru had an intense structure and very long length of finish. Good integration of French oak with lively acidity and concentrated ripe yellow fruit. The 2016 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clos des Folatieres was quite rich and complex, with the complexity coming from the blend of three different parcels. The Puligny-Montrachet Les Purcelles had very floral and more feminine aromas, and lots of complexity such as “heavy” white flowers and also orange zest.

The Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2016 had very intense concentrated flavors and long length. The finish goes on for more than 20 seconds – absolutely amazing. There are floral notes, but with this Grand Cru it is all about the structure and mouthfeel.

A fabulous visit to one of Burgundy’s best producers.

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