Located in Pernand Vergelesses, north of the Côte de Beaune, the DUBREUIL-FONTAINE Père & Fils estate has 20 hectares of vines with no less than 22 appellations:  from fresh Burgundy wines to the lively village of Pernand-Vergelesses, from the prestigious Premier Cru Pommard Epenots and the rare Grand Cru Corton Bressandes. The estate is managed today by Christine Dubreuil who represents the fifth generation of winemakers. Farming methods are environmentally friendly and undertaken according to the principles of sustainable agriculture. The harvest is carried out by hand at full maturity and sorted on arrival at the winery.

Grape Variety : Pinot Noir

Terroir : Clay & Limestone

Age of the vines : 35 years

Vinification: 100% destemmed fruit. Traditional winemaking in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats, twice daily punching. 18-day fermentation. Aging: 20 months in oak casks. 30% new oak.

A deep intense red mellow berry color that displays a complex aroma of fruit and spice. The taste is concentrated with silky tannins. Power and structure guarantee a good ageing potential.

Burghound – 93 points

A healthy dollop of wood stops short of fighting with the ripe and attractively spicy aromas of forest floor and poached plum. The more elegant middle weight plus flavors exude a subtle minerality on the beautifully textured and nicely mineral-driven sneaky long finish. This is not especially concentrated but the balance is lovely, and this should also age gracefully over a 12 to 15-year period. (Drink starting 2031)

Vinous – 91-93 points

The 2019 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru has a perfumed bouquet of blackberry, briar, undergrowth and light oyster shell aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, a slightly chalky texture and a finely delineated, expressive finish. This is a classy offering that should age with style.

Decanter – 92 points (2016)

Tasted by Charles Curtis MW (at New York, 01 Apr 2021)Part of Burgundy: a complete guide to Corton
The wine shows classic red berry fruit coloured with savoury, earthy notes and a slightly herbaceous cast. The texture is lively and fresh, and the finish is pleasantly long on the palate. This wine is from a 0.8 hectare parcel at the bottom of Bressandes. Destemmed and fermented in stainless, it sees 12–15 months in cask (30% new).

Drinking Window 2021 – 2034

Wine Advocate – 90-92 pts (2016)

The 2016 Corton Bressandes Grand Cru was more backward than the Corton-Perrières on the nose, with sultry red berry fruit mixed with undergrowth and shale-like scents. The palate is medium-bodied, rounded in texture with blackberry and raspberry fruit, a pinch of sea salt and spice toward the finish that is more generous and expressive than the aromatics at the moment. Very fine.

I always enjoy the picturesque drive around the western base of Corton-Charlemagne toward the village of Pernand-Vergelesses. Unfortunately, the appellation was hit hard by the frost, with the Pernand side of the hill worse affected than the Aloxe-Corton side toward the RN74 road. At the domaine I met the ever congenial Christine Dubreuil. “After the frost in April, we inspected the vineyards lower down and I thought, well, that’s not too bad,” Christine explained. “We went a bit higher, and it was slightly worse but still, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Then the following day my cousins who also make wine called me and asked whether I had been to the higher vineyards and suggested I should. Then we saw the real damage. We just never thought it would be affected up there. The harvest started around 20 September, and the sugar levels were good, though not as high as 2015. In the end, a little more than half the crop was lost, the worst with the white vines, which were 70% down. Even if it was the worst vintage in terms of stress during the season, I like the wines very much because they are more vibrant than 2015, more Burgundian in style. I like both colors, though maybe a preference for the reds. For me, the quality is close to last year. The wines have a nice balance, which was not always the case in 2015.” As expected, this was not a consistent range of 2016s due to the impact of the frost, though I share Christine’s enthusiasm for the best wines: a wonderful Beaune Montrevenots, a zinging Pernand-Vergelesse Ile de Vergelesses and a kingly Corton Clos du Roi. These all come highly recommended. Elsewhere, sure there are one or two cuvées that felt discombobulated by the traumatic growing season, particularly a Corton-Charlemagne that seemed bereft of the weight and presence I expect from a grand cru. Nevertheless, Christine is a dab hand at this winemaking malarkey, and this is still an address that I think is producing underrated wines that deserve a wider audience.