Domaine Rapet Pere et Fils, Pernand-Verglesses Blanc Les Combottes 2021

Vinification is pretty classic, The whole grapes are placed in the press and the pressing lasts for two hours. After 24 hours' settling at low temperatures, the grape juice is transferred into barrels to ferment, the proportion of new oak barrels being 30%. Ageing on lees with occasional batonage and the wine is bottled after 12 months of ageing.

The Rapet family can trace its roots in Pernand back to 1795, and they are both one of the largest landholders in Corton-Charlemagne, as well as one of its finest exponents, so it is a mystery why these wines aren't better known and better distributed. Under Vincent Rapet's attentive eye, vinification is pretty classic, with the whites whole cluster pressed and fermented in barrels, as well as a few concrete eggs for some cuvées that Rapet believes give a more tensile, fresher profile to the wine. The reds, which have improved in recent years, see a brief cold soak followed by some 15 days of maceration, maturing in around 30% new wood from carefully chosen sources including Chassin and Taransaud. In addition to the flagship white grand cru, there are plenty of wines for insiders here, above all the old vine Pernand Sous Fretille. In summation, this is a fine source that deserves more attention, especially in view of its very reasonable prices.