Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Domaine ROLLIN Père et Fils -- 2013s from Cask and Bottle and a Couple of 2012s from Bottle

Domaine ROLLIN Père et Fils (Pernand-Vergelesses)

Rollin’s wines can be deceptive young. I’ve on several occasions had one of these wines with several years age and found them to be better than I originally had evaluated them young. This is a good source for wines that express the special nature of Burgundy without breaking the bank.

2013s  from Cask

Pernand-Vergelesses was badly hit by the hail, and so this estate lost 60% of the vintage.

Harvesting began on October 1. As is customary here, grapes were entirely destemmed.

We start with the whites here:

2013 Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Beaune blanc
This wine is fresh, clear, and light with green apple fruit, stoniness, and minerality. It is refreshing. This wine was raised in a 400 liter cask. (85-88)

2013 Pernand-Vergelesses blanc
The nose here is stony. The mouth is broader than that of the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and the wine seems lower in acidity; it is light, transparent, and easy to drink. Bottling took place in early September. 87+/B

2013 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru – Sous Frétille blanc
The nose here is fresh and clear. The mouth is broad and deep with more structure than the village wine and good minerality. 25% new oak on this wine. (87-90)

2013 Corton-Charlemagne
The buttery nose is followed by a creamy texture and excellent purity. There isn’t a lot of tension here, but the wine shows good backbone and concentration and is delicious already. (90-93)

Passing to the reds:

2013 Bourgogne-Hautes-Côtes de Beaune rouge
This wine has dark fruit aromas that are just slightly jammy and also has some pepper elements. The mouth displays firmness and long, grapy, simple, satisfying dark fruits that cause one to salivate. There’s good grip and freshness here. This wine was bottled in early September.  86(+)/B

2013 Pernand-Vergelesses rouge
White pepper aromas are followed in the mouth by grapy dark fruit in a round body. The wine has good concentration and is rustic but satisfying. This vineyard was not badly hailed upon. (86-89)

2013 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru – Les Fichots rouge
This wine has a dark, smoky, stony nose. The body is round and smooth with dark fruit and more class, less rusticity than the village wine. It is also less open and more tannic than the village wine. (87-91)

2013 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru – Les Vergelesses rouge
This vineyard was very badly damaged by the hail. The nose is floral. The mouth is focused, intense, and dense with dark fruits. (88-91)

Some 2012s  from Bottle

2012 Pernand-Vergelesses rouge
This wine shows tannins and fruit that is juicy and redder than that in the 2013. It needs time but shows promise. 88/B+

2012 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru – Sous Frétille blanc
There’s good ripeness here and the wine is round with a bit of golden quality to its fruit. There is some of the fatness of the 2012 vintage here, but not too much, and so this is an attractive wine for near and medium-term drinking. 89/B