2024 Etienne Delarche Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru "Ile de Vergelesses" Rouge

Notes

Etienne Delarche makes some of the most exciting wines in Pernand-Vergelesses, the little village tucked into the back side of the hill of Corton. His family has worked these vines since the 1940s. Etienne studied in Beaune and traveled the world before taking the reins of the domaine in 2008. He farms about nine hectares, split roughly evenly between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (with a little Aligoté thrown in). The Pernand premier crus include the south-facing Sous Frétille and the walled Île de Vergelesses. Up the hill sit three grand crus: Le Corton, a Corton Renardes his father Philippe planted some fifty years ago, and a few old vines at the very top of Corton-Charlemagne. The village Boutières comes only from vines seventy years or older! Everything is farmed along organic lines (though not certified) and picked by hand. Every wine ferments on native yeasts and goes into bottle unfined and unfiltered. The reds see no more than 30 percent new oak and the whites rest in older barrels, with Corton-Charlemagne the lone exception in new wood.