The 2016 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses has a broody, dark berry and cold slate-scented bouquet, but it is nicely detailed. It just needs a little more vigor, but that should come through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple ripe tannin, tightly-knit black fruit laced with blueberry that leads to quite a caressing finish. Give this a couple of years in bottle and it should be drinking well.

The 2015 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses has a refined bouquet with dried rose petal mixed with red cherries and strawberry scents. It feels tight at the moment but there is good focus here. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, slightly meaty and savory in style with a gentle grip on the spicy finish. Enjoy over several years - this is an intriguing Pernand-Vergelesses with personality.

The 2014 Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses has a crisp, quite floral bouquet with wilted rose petals infusing the red berry fruit, more Aloxe in style. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin that form quite a sophisticated framework. There is great mineralité towards the finish. This is one of the domaine's best reds this vintage.

The 2013 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses has a light raspberry and briary-scented nose with stony scents surfacing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a saline entry, fine tannins with a sharp slightly grainy texture. It is just missing a little substance compared to the 2012 last year.

The 2012 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile de Vergelesses has a slightly rustic nose of blackberry leaf, briary and a touch of raspberry preserve. The palate has a pretty, cerebral saline entry, feminine and light tannins, with a pleasant mulberry and dark plum finish that just needs a little more length. 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.