The 1959 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses is a sublime bottle that's still in its plenitude, wafting from the glass with a sweet and complex bouquet of smoky red cherries, black tea, orange rind and musk. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and sun-kissed, with an ample and voluptuous core of fruit, ripe acids and entirely melted tannins, concluding with a precise and delicately mineral finish. This is a beautiful wine, and it was a pleasure to share the sole bottle in my cellar with Fran?ois de Nicolay, who runs the domaine today and tells me that very little wine was estate-bottled during this period.