If you’re looking to explore the greatest red wine terroirs in the white wine-dominated Côte de Beaune, the historic Dubreuil-Fontaine estate, based in the village of Pernand-Vergelesses, is your one-stop shop.
Their 20 hectares of mature vineyards include pieces of just about every important Pinot Noir vineyard in the zone, including Premier Crus in their home village to Grand Crus on the neighboring hill of Corton (in fact, the only Grand Cru Pinot Noir in the entire Côte de Beaune). This wine, reserved for our top customers, is a 2012 from the Grand Cru “Les Bressandes” vineyard, expertly crafted by fifth-generation vigneron Christine Gruère-Dubreuil. It is a perfect example of the velvety depth Corton Pinot is capable of, and is seductively accessible in its youth. As for its perfume, well, one exhilarating whiff confirms you’re in Grand Cru territory.
Dubreuil-Fontaine is a heritage brand that really should have a higher profile given the stalwart consistency and amazing price-to-quality of its wines; they’ve been making sommeliers look good for decades. Tasting this Corton makes me think of other benchmark estates across the wine world—folks like Corison in Napa; Il Poggione in Montalcino; Lopez de Heredia in Rioja—who (a) have kept their prices reasonable and (b) have endured and delivered even as drinkers have tended to overlook them in favor of some shinier new toy.
Christine Gruère-Dubreuil has been at the helm of the estate for 25 years now. She produces more than 20 different cuvées (about 75% of which are red wines) and has become a beloved talent in France: her dedication to quality led to her being named one of the “Femmes aux Commandes,” (“women in control”) by the publication Bourgogne Aujourd'Hui. Her family’s piece of Les Bressandes was purchased in 1938 and planted to the current vines in 1953, which gives her exceptionally concentrated fruit with which to work. Les Bressandes sits on the prime mid-slope of the Aloxe-Corton portion of Corton, just below the vineyard of Clos du Roi, which was once reserved for the kings of France. Dubreuil-Fontaine’s vines lay in the middle of Bressandes on a considerable slope, rooted in exposed limestone bedrock intertwined with marl and a streak of iron. This combination of vine age and exposure gives the wine its density and voluptuous texture; it expresses itself with a kind of soft power, approachable now but clearly built to last.
Under Christine’s guidance, the grapes are sorted in the vineyards before they reach the cellar. The fruit is entirely destemmed and fermented for 18 days in stainless steel. Christine utilizes fewer punch-downs than her predecessors (two times daily) and opts for a maximum of 30% new oak for the Grand Cru wines. This wine aged for 20 months and only 1,500 bottles were produced. As stated by her West Coast importer, “the wines are more polished, more energetic and textural, more Christine.” We won’t argue with that!
The 2012 Les Bressandes Grand Cru is everything I hope for in a great bottle of Burgundy. On sight, the wine exhibits a beautiful, concentrated dark ruby core with light garnet reflections on the rim. The warm, generous nose allures with fragrances of beautiful wild berries: huckleberry, wild strawberry, red and black cherry mingle with wild mushroom, tree moss, damp forest and a vast array of florals. You get earthiness without the funk. The dense, concentrated palate is structured yet approachably soft. As their importer aptly states, “There is a luxury to the fruit of Bressandes: a warm spiral of cherry and dark plum with a fall-meets-winter spice.” A joy to drink now, its best years will likely be 5-6 years from now, when we will see even more pronounced savory and umami characteristics. Ultimately, I think it’ll age even longer, but should you be tempted to try one now, decant for 10 minutes and serve in Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees. A true showpiece for any main course, this wine will dazzle with medium-rare duck or boeuf bourguignon, but we’re going to try this
traditional cassoulet on an upcoming winter evening.
