Reduced by 50% of production because of frost and the venerable age of the vines, the 2016 Aloxe Corton 1er Cru les Vercots has a linear, rather conservative bouquet that needs to develop a little more vigor and fruit expression (perhaps the village cru shows more?). The palate is nicely structured, quite masculine in style, nicely focused though attenuating slightly toward the finish. This will require two or three years in bottle.

The 2015 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Vercots felt a little disjointed on the nose, perhaps not showing the cohesion and fruit intensity of the Vercots from Tollot-Beaut that I tasted the day before. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin - linear in style - concentrated but needing to show more nervosité and tension on the finish. I feel that this should improve during the remainder of its maturation period.

The 2014 Aloxe Corton 1er Cru les Vercots just needed a little more mineralité to come through on the nose, red cherries and bergamot aromas developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly rustic tannin, but there is good weight here and a pleasant, quite saline finish. Afford this 3-4 years in bottle.

The 2013 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru les Vercots has an expressive bouquet with blackcurrant pastille with just a dab of raspberry coulis. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannins, a crisp line of acidity and quite a firm, structured finish that imparts just a scintilla of austerity. Afford this a year in bottle if you can, and it should drink well for 4-5 years.

The 2012 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Vercots comes from a half-hectare of 45-year old vines. It has a rounded, generous bouquet with plenty of fruite here. The palate is very well balanced with good weight in the mouth: tightly knit tannins, a fine line of acidity and lovely pure black fruit on the finish makes this a delicious 2012. Just lovely! My first visit of my fortnight stint in Burgundy was to a grower whose wines I have frequently enjoyed in recent years, but whose Pernand-Vergelesses winery I had never visited: Dubreuil-Fontaine. Most people have probably driven past in on their way up to Bonneau du Martray, but my advice is to take time and visit, because the wines make it all worthwhile. Christine Gruere Dubreuil started working with her father Bernard in 1991, tending holdings in Pommard, Volnay and Beaune that were handed down from her mother’s side of the family. The winery itself was built in 1985. She took sole responsibility for the winemaking in 2000, the fifth generation to do so. She currently looks after around 20-hectares of vine tended under lutte raisonnee principles scattered over 20 lieux-dits around Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton, plus nearby appellations. “It was a difficult vintage with the weather,” she told me in her superb English learned from her time in California. “We got hail in Volnay, Pommard and Beaune but in Pernand-Vergelesses it was fine. However yields were not high because of the cold weather during flowering, but finally the grapes looked good and there was no grey rot. We started the harvest around the 20 September and we did not need much sorting. We are happy with the vintage. The whites were just bottled just before crush and the reds will be bottled between December and March. We made pigeage twice daily during fermentation with some remontage towards the end depending on cru. I don’t like to extract too much.” I tasted most of the wines with Christine. I had wanted to return to finish them off but I ran out of time that day. But I thoroughly enjoyed what I did taste. These wines are clean and fresh, adept at expressing their unique terroirs, making the use of their old vine parcels. The use of oak here is nicely judged, around 25% for the village crus and around 30 to 35% for the grand cru. Prices look very reasonable compared to others and I certainly would be stocking up with Christine’s whites and reds in 2012. Importer: APS Wine & Spirits, 9401 San Leandro St, Oakland, CA 94603 Tel; 510 638 5200 and DB Wines in Boston. Also available through Avery’s and Laithwaites/Direct Wines in UK.